


Blood and Roses

by Serriya (Keolah)



Series: Interdimensional Bridge [42]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons - Fandom, Vampire: The Masquerade
Genre: Adventure, Crossover, Dimension Travel, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Romance, Vampire Slayer(s), Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-07-18
Updated: 2006-07-28
Packaged: 2017-12-09 16:16:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 106,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/776214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The vampire Sarril Farmer never imagined a place where his kind was so common. And he certainly hadn't expected to fall in love along the way, either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shadowy Corners

Torn Elkandu was known for its taverns, there seeming to be more taverns than residences in the town, presumably anyone that still required sleep just slept there. The most prominent tavern in Torn Elkandu these days was the Crux, a tavern with an innovative plus-shaped design to double the number of shadowy corners. Of course, at the moment, one of these corners appeared to be conspicuously much more shadowy than normal.

What he'd been up to was nobody's damned business beyond his own, suffice to say that Falk had been keeping as busy in the expanded universe he'd stumbled across as he had back on the dark shadow of Earth. It was just about time for him to head back, though, his most recent bloodletting having been long enough ago that his reserves were running lower than he generally preferred.

What had decided him to come into this place was beyond him, maybe the irony of going into a bar with a general cross shape to it... either way, he wanted a damn beer and some solitude to digest some of the things he'd been checking into. After getting said beer, he added a bit of his own blood to it so it was drinkable, then idly looked around for a shadowy corner to claim as his own for a bit.

At first glance, the corner looked unoccupied, and he didn't even notice its occupant until he was within a few feet. A pair of eyes, one amber and one blue, looked out of the darkness at him. The man had dark skin, and his slightly pointed ears marked him as a half-elf.

Actually there was something that might otherwise go unremarked about Falk's tendencies, as he was one to constantly scan the people around him for signs of his own kind as well as other oddities. A natural inclination for someone who had made a life's work of watching for those needing removal. He'd picked up the subtle differences that marked the vampires here while hunting in Mezylburst.

There was no particular reason to avoid them at the moment, or to stalk them as he wasn't on the clock just now, and the recognition of the vampire in the vicinity was enough to draw him in that direction.

He stopped near the table and nodded briefly. "Mind if I join you?"

Sarril shrugged noncommittally, leaning back in his corner casually. "Whatever."

Falk smirked at the reply, amused at the echo, and slid into a seat. He took a drink, then sets the bottle down as pale, almost-colorless eyes look the other over. "First one I've seen in a while," he commented.

"No doubt," Sarril muttered, shrugging again.

"Mm, talkative sort, aren't we?" Falk remarked, then shrugged and leaned back with his beer. "Better than some fluff-headed Torrie sharkette, at least."

Sarril gave him a look of pure puzzlement, then shrugged it off. "Not that most people even notice I'm even here," he murmured.

"Not necessarily a bad thing," Falk replied. "Better than Kindred going around making asses of themselves and earning the Final Death, eh?"

Sarril continued to look puzzled. Rather than admit to ignorance, however, he just said, "Name's Sarril. Sarril Farmer."

"Falk," the other replied simply, then smirked. "Though I've been called the Scourge in some places, always nice to be recognized for your work." He shrugged and took another pull from his beer as his eyes turned to scan the people in sight. "Vampires don't seem to be much different, wherever you go."

Sarril shrugged again. "Can't say I've been around much more than here, Lezaria, Mezulbryst a bit, Straegarx..."

The shadows coiled around the vicinity in a most unnatural manner, creeping along the floor and walls like they had a life of their own. Nobody seemed to notice or care. Elkandu playing around with their powers was hardly unusual around here.

Falk just smirked at the bit of shadowplay, his Sire had had a thing for this Lasombra bitch... a real pity that she'd shown her true colors and ended up at the wrong end of a flamethrower. Really.

"Seen a bit of those myself," Falk replied. "Bit quieter than I was used to back home, not a bad change of pace."

Sarril quirked an eyebrow. "Where are you from?"

"Quaint little backwater mirror of Terra," Falk smirked. "Bit more in the way of trouble from idiot bloodsuckers there, assholes never seem to learn the lesson." He shook his head in disgust and drained the last of his beer. "But hey, they want to play their little games with the humans, they can pay the price for it."

Sarril snorted softly and said, "Most Elkandu stop thinking messing around with mensch is funny after the turn a hundred or so."

Falk shrugged. "After enough time, I suppose they get bored and start thinking it's fun to play games. All part of the attraction." He snorted lightly. "Raph's probably keeping it in line back in Selenis at least."

"Who? Where? What?" Sarril said, raising an eyebrow.

"Raph, old three-eyes," Falk shrugged. "Took to the job of watching the bloodsuckers in the city pretty damned well considering he'd been taking a dirt nap for a thousand years or so."

"Three-eyes?" Sarril said, blinking in confusion.

"Salubri," Falk explained. "They get a third eye in the center of their foreheads from some bizarre power they use. Go fig."

"Can't say I've heard of 'em..." Sarril muttered, looking at him oddly.

"Lot of people haven't, even the old bloodsuckers," Falk said. "Raph was one of the lucky ones who managed to be torped when Tremere and his flunkies went on their genocidal campaign. All of five or so left in the clan by the time he woke up, boy was he _pissed_. He started rebuilding after Tremere lost his right to the blood..." He shudders at the memory. "Now _that_ was damned ugly."

Sarril proceeded to look at him as if he was speaking a foreign language.

"What?" Falk answered the look with a smirk. "You asked, I replied. the joys of having bloodsuckers pop up all over, the history of one world don't mean jack shit to ones from someplace else."

Sarril smirked faintly. "Well, I could ramble on about the history of the vampires on Lezaria, but I don't imagine it'd be all that interesting, all in all."

Falk shrugged. "Probably, since I'm headed homeward shortly anyway. Have to check on Ruth and the rest of the bloodline, see what they've been up to in my absence."

"I don't even know where my mother went off to, I haven't seen her in centuries," Sarril said. "All she said was she was heading off to find the world Vadrak had said he was from..."

"Could be pretty much anywhere," Falk said. "Seems the disease plagues too damned many worlds."

"I think she must have meant another universe, since I didn't find any record of her in the Eyes of Truth's database."

"A little fuzzy yet on the multiple-universe thing," Falk said. "Other than the practical uses of it, such as there being a hell of a lot of them out there."

"Can't say there were ever an awful lot of vampires around Lezaria," Sarril said. "Vadrak's idiots got wiped out by the Windriders on a regular basis, and he didn't really have much chance to make anymore after he was sealed under Westraldine by my half-brother."

"Mm, they lucked out," Falk replied. "Too damned many bloodsuckers back home, though I don't suppose I can bitch too much since it keeps my brood in business."

"And Vadrak, _he_ was a right asshole," Sarril said. "I don't know what kind of a dumb idea this entire 'let's turn our worst enemy's girlfriend into a vampire just to piss him off' plan was."

Falk shrugged. "I've heard worse, that's a pretty damn common ploy among the clans that put any sort of stock in dealing with mundanes. That or turning em into blood dolls. Tch, and they wonder why they get dusted?"

"Not that I can say much for _her_ either," Sarril sighed. "The 'let's turn our son into a vampire and then leave the planet' was probably not such a great idea either."

"No one ever said everlasting life handed out intelligence." Falk smirked. "If anything, it seems to make people bigger and better assholes as they start getting bored with their toys."

Sarril sighed. "Well, I don't think I turned out too badly for all that, I suppose. Seven hundred years and I haven't gone crazy or turned into an idiot yet."

"Not all of the old ones go nuts," Falk remarked. "Oh sure, most of em get so fucking jaded that they'll do anything to anyone just to keep their sneaky little games going, but there's been a few that I've run across that weren't half bad. Hell, even just leaving people alone is a good thing at that point."

He shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Vadrak had a bunch of twits running around, but he seemed to consider them expendable."

"Oh yeah, that's SOP for bloodsuckers." Falk nodded. "Create a brood and keep em under thumbscrews, occasionally toss em out as cannon fodder or as sacrifices to the powers that be. Guess I have to thank Gaia for the wolfman being weird enough not to have ever pulled _that_ shit. Would've ended up being him or me, otherwise."

"Guess he didn't expect my mom to tell him 'fuck you' and run off," Sarril said, chuckling softly.

"Mm, lucky he didn't decide on a bit of a control display at that," Falk replied. "Either by right of destruction or a blood bond."

"I think he was a bit busy trying not to get chopped apart with a magic sword at the time," Sarril said. "My father was not very happy with him."

"That'd do it," Falk acknowledged with a nod. "Bloodsuckers are nothing if not quick to do anything to save their own asses. Goes with the Beast, not to mention general chickenshit tendencies."

"But he was too strong, and he eventually killed my father, and that's when my half-brother showed up and sealed him deep in the dungeons under Westraldine with strong magic..."

"Can't argue with a bit of justice there, eh? Always good to see the bastards get what they deserve."

"Aye," Sarril agreed. "He deserved that and worse, to be sure."

"And what're you doing with your little 'gift' now?" Falk smirked. "Same old games that they all end up playing over time, or something a bit more unique?"

Sarril gave a shrug. "Doing my damnedest to _not_ be like Vadrak," he muttered.

"Fair enough goal." Falk nodded. "And a hell of a lot worse you could be working toward. May even be enough to keep the occasional hunter from looking at you too closely... well, other than the fanatical, batshit crazy ones who go for anyone in the cape and fangs club."

Sarril chuckled softly. "Not too many of those around here at least," he said.

"All it takes is one to get a grudge." Falk smirked. "You'd be surprised how fast an organization can spring into being from that. But hey, keep from making enemies and at least you won't have to worry about getting set up for the fall."

"Mm," Sarril murmured. "So you say there's a lot of vampires where you're from? And they're not all batshit crazy idiots?"

"Didn't say anything about them not being idiots," Falk snorted. "There's always going to be plenty of those around, but they were starting to learn under the new rules that it didn't pay to fuck around. The price was a little too high for their liking. Most of the younger ones, at least, were more interested in doing all the shit that people normally do, if with a twist."

"Course I'd expect there to be always idiots, just in some cases it seems like everyone's a bloody idiot..." Sarril muttered. "I wonder if that might be the place my mother mentioned..." He shrugged.

"Could be," Falk said. "Every city has at least a small local bloodsucker population, the bigger the city the more it has, and the more prestige goes along with holding a position there. Fucking politics."

Sarril has difficulty wrapping his brain around the idea of someplace where vampires were relatively commonplace. Not that Lezaria was hardly an ideal place for them, anyway.

"If you ever decide to head out that way," Falk said, "Be sure to stop in and see the local Prince, otherwise it's your ass if the Scourge or Sheriff catch you on the street un-Presented. Old rule but it's stuck around for ease of keeping track of who's sinking fangs into who."

"Er, right," he murmured pensively, gears turning thoughtfully.

"Good way to get caught up on the current laws, too," Falk added. "So you don't end up doing something stupid like drinking off a shapeshifter or fae, and end up with a blood hunt called on you." He shrugged. "A lot of it's common sense, but there's not a hell of a lot of that among mundanes, much less the Kindred."

Sarril nodded faintly, and said, "I... see." He clearly didn't.

Falk smirked, "Trust me on this one, you're gonna want to know the do's and don'ts if you go there, otherwise you'll find yourself on the wrong end of a blood hunt, a Garou's claws, or if you really fuck the poodle you might hear from my brood briefly before it all goes dark."

"Noted," he muttered.

"Other than that, all I'll say is to say away from the Brujah, they're all a bunch of dumbasses," Falk snorted. "And the Toreador are a royal pain in the ass if they decide you're cuteakins or some shit. At least the Tremere aren't a worry any more."

"Er. Right," he muttered, taking note the names without knowing who the hell he was talking about. "You mean there's different groups of vampires?"

"Oh hell yeah." Falk nodded. "Somewhere back in the dusty old days, if you take the legends straight... and after some recent events they're pretty damned hard to dismiss. Anyway, Caine, first bloodsucker, I'm not buying the whole 'cursed by God' bullshit, but he's definitely the founder of the line. Proof positive since he woke up one day, told _every_ damn bloodsucker that Tremere was getting his right revoked, and _poof_! Not a single one of the bastards left the next night. Not _one_. Really shook the hell out of the bastards as a whole, would've been damned funny to me if the idea of some ancient popping into my head with a message hadn't been so fucked up.

"Where was I?" He hmmed. "Oh yeah, the clans. So Cain creates a few childer, those create a few more, and so on. Unfortunately for them, the fourth gen rose up and ate the third. The new third gen were the ones responsible for creating the various clans, and other bloodlines formed along the way. Each of em have unique attributes and tendencies."

Sarril blinked for a moment, starting to wonder if he shouldn't have asked. "Er. Right. What sort of attributes and such?"

"The Brujah ended up with a lot of physical abilities, focusing on Potence and Celerity, which did a hell of a lot to foster their image as thugs," Falk replied. "They also inherited one hell of a temper that tends to get them in a lot of trouble, they've always been the single biggest pain in the ass for the ones keeping an eye on things.

"Toreador, well..." Falk smirked. "Bunch of damn limp-wristed art fags, go all glazed at the drop of a hat and ramble on endlessly about their chosen art. My personal bane. Anyway, Nosferatu are pug ugly, Ventrue are stiff-necked suits with delusions of kingdom, Gangrel... well, they're alright, they pretty much keep to themselves and prefer nature to dealing with people, guess that explains the animal traits they pick up.

"Let's see, who does that leave? Malkavians, ugh." Falk rolled his eyes. "They're bugfuck nuts, every damned one of em, and they tend to get dusted more often than not since they're likely to cause trouble. Watch out for em, they have a Discipline that can cause temp insanity, and some older ones can make it permanent. Other than that, there's a bunch of bloodlines that have styles of their own, like the Gargoyles."

Sarril listened with something of fascination and curiosity. He'd never thought that there might be so many different kinds of vampires.

Falk smirked at a memory. "The Gargs are interesting, at least the ones back where I come from. Real wise-asses, went along well with their Obfuscation ability to appear as anything they want to. They were created by the Tremere back in the fifteenth, sixteenth century, somewhere around there. Some had the intelligence to revolt, though, and ended up forming a bloodline of their own. Bloodlines are created in different ways, though the most common rises out of the Caitiff, the outsiders who don't have any inherent clan weakness. Being on the outside, they have no one but themselves to depend on, so they tend to come up with interesting new Disciplines. If one of em's strong and determined enough, they can start a bloodline."

"What's a 'discipline'?" he wondered. "That anything like Talents?"

"Ehhhh, sorta," Falk replied. "They're a lot more limited than I've found while looking around at things here, most likely a matter of limited perspective. Each Discipline has a number of abilities associated with it, and the more powerful ones are restricted by how potent a vamp's blood is. So your average twittering Torrie neonate isn't ever going to be able to shred somebody's mind from a distance, for example. It's actually a fairly strange setup, after what I've learned, since some of them combine elements that would fall under different Talents."

Sarril grunted softly. "I'm considered an Illusionist. Specifically, a Shadow Mage."

"May want to keep that quiet if you go there." Falk smirked. "The only ones who used the sort of ability I saw you toying with were wiped out a while ago, the Lasombra. They made the mistake of being part of the Sabbat, an opposition faction that indulged in all sorts of really vile shit, and got dusted from top to bottom in the Unification Wars." There were still some out there, of course, but they hid or died.

Sarril snorted softly. "Wouldn't surprise me, considering Vadrak..."

Falk shrugged. "They weren't the worst of the lot by any means, I think that title goes to the Tzimisce with their Frankenstein feats. If you cast a reflection, though, a Prince with half a brain will probably let it slide since _all_ of them had that flaw."

Sarril blinked slightly. "Waait... You mean not all vampires don't cast a reflection?"

Falk snorted, returning the earlier 'are you crazy' look. "Of course not! Most of us have a reflection, and only rarely does it show up as a trait. Of course mirrors _do_ cause a problem for Obfuscation, since it works on the mind rather than casting an actual illusory effect... Like using Mind instead of Illusion."

Sarril blinked again. "Well, I certainly don't..."

"May want to get someone to poke around in your head," Falk said. "Some of the things I've been looking at, and comparing to other things I know, suggest that the majority of the negative attributes bloodsuckers pick up are because of something in their own mind. Hell, there was one Salubri who had all the classic limitations like crosses, garlic, running water, the works. All because _she_ believed in em."

"I find that hard to believe," Sarril muttered.

"Do you?" Falk smirked. "Then let me give you another example. Caitiff. A vamp becomes a one when their Sire abandons them without any word or way of finding out what they are. Yet Caitiff have _no_ clan flaw. You tell me why someone who was Embraced as a Gangrel doesn't get all fuzzy when they frenzy as a Caitiff? Or a Vent without a feeding restriction."

Sarril was only becoming more and more confused.

"Think about it," Falk pressed. "If they end up with none of the flaws that their creation would entail, what does that mean? Maybe they get the damned things because they're taught that that's 'the way things are'. That kind of bullshit gets you nothing but trouble, obedience without question or independent thought."

Sarril tried to wrap his mind around the idea, and said, "I don't see how just what someone thinks would tie into something so blatantly obvious... well, unless it was tied into their powers in the first place..."

Falk smirked. "Ever take a stroll down to the School of Thought down the way? Ask any of em just how much 'belief' can affect someone if they have the ability to make the change. Hell, mundanes have dealt with psychosomatic symptoms for years!"

"Right, you may have a point there," he admitted grudgingly. "I suppose something like that could as easily tie into my Illusion abilities or something..."

Falk shook his head. "No, I don't think it's something as simple as that, not when the symptoms are so widespread and independent of any clan's ability. Most likely it has to do with some aspect of what it means to be a vampire, just like there's a distinctive difference in the appearance of the aura."

"That doesn't make much sense," he said.

"Sure it does," Falk countered. "You have someone who's been recently turned into a bloodsucking minion of the night, who has no idea what abilities they're really capable of, but there's _something_ that makes them a vamp, right? Well, if they're taught to expect and believe that this is 'the way things are', that basic 'vampireness' would react to it on a subconscious level."

"Maybe," Sarril said, "I suppose." He sighed, and shrugged noncommittally.

Falk shrugged. "No skin off my nose if you don't follow it up, I'm just the bearer and leave people to figure the rest of it out for themselves."

"Sorry, you just kind of came in and shook up everything I thought I'd known for the last several hundred years," Sarril said with a humorous smirk.

"Been doing that for years." Falk smirked. "With thought or more direct methods, either works for me."

"But, luckily, I'm willing to listen and take a look and not just sit here being angsty for the next decade."

Falk rolled his eyes. "There's something to be said for that, too damn much of it going around. Getting the hell away from the melancholy damned elves is reason enough to go home... aw shit, forgot they're there now too. Ugh."

"Oh, wait, I'm a half-elf, I'm supposed to be angsting about my conflicted nature, oh, and about being the illegitimate son of a famous war hero, oh, and about my mother abandoning me, and..." He snorted softly. "Nonsense, all of it."

"We all have a sad story to tell," Falk replied disgustedly. "Unfortunately that's all the damned emo-goths ever want to dwell on. Fuck that! There's better things to do with an effectively-unlimited lifespan, dead state, whatever you want to call it. But hey, as long as they're sitting on their asses moping, they're not out on the streets making work for people like me to clean up."

"Like those worthless idiots in Iron City..." Sarril muttered, snorting again.

"Where do you think I was hanging out for the last bit?" Falk smirked, then shook his head and pushed to his feet. "Speaking of, though, been sitting on my ass too long, it's time to get the hell out and catch up on what's been going down in my absence. It's been a slice."

"Sure, take care. Nice meeting you," he said. "And thanks for the advice."

"Keep it in mind," Falk replied. "You'll need it to get you started if you ever head over that way. Here." He dug into a pocket of his long coat and tossed out a card. "Look me up if you get out that way."

Falk waved in informal salute, then headed off to return to the Nexus. Time indeed to get back into the saddle.


	2. Meet the Prince

It had been an interesting past month, Sarril thought as he returned to Torn Elkandu. He'd always liked Streyka. She was clever, strong, charismatic. Of course, seeing the others again was always an interesting prospect. There seemed to be more of them than he remembered, even when they reported a few casualties from the recent invasion. Most of them had been smart enough to stay out of the way, of course.

But it was difficult to do that when an entire city got torched. Nothing to be done about that now, though, at least the crazy Chaos scum was gone for good now, thankfully. He was rather surprised to learn that Falk had been right, though. Yet one thing still nagged at him as he went toward the Nexus. The fact that Vadrak's prison was empty. He didn't know how long Vadrak had been free, or where he might be now, and it was worrying.

Nothing to be done about that now except maybe to warn Falk, if he saw him. He already had people looking for him, but he feared what might happened to them if Vadrak caught them. Sarril shook his head and put it out of mind for now, and looked up the world he intended to visit, and stepped into the Nexus and activated it...

Through the vagaries of interdimensional time more than a month had passed in the interim back at the homestead, and Falk had been kept quite busy throughout as was usually the case. First thing had been to check in with Ruth to see how the bloodline was doing at the moment and catch up on the list of potential recruits.

That little project had consumed most of that time, and he'd had to destroy one for embracing without permission. There was only so much that could be done to screen out those who would take it on themselves to do what they shouldn't. The rules he held for the bloodline were fucking simple, but there'd always be _someone_ who thought they knew better... dumbasses.

After that he'd returned to DC to catch up on things on a broader level, checking back in with the special operations center dedicated to supernatural affairs. That was always a hell of a lot of 'fun', the sheer mass of work they had backlogged was sadly unsurprising. The moment found him sitting in a silent, chilly office going over reports and sipping occasionally at an unleaded Bloody Mary.

Sarril took into mind what Falk had told him back in Torn Elkandu and upon arriving, proceeded to see about doing that. It didn't strike him as such a strange thing, but he didn't care to make any enemies today.

The problem with the advice that had been given, the thought had to arise, was the question of just _where_ to start looking for this person calling themselves a 'Prince'. It wasn't like they were listed in a phone book or had a huge neon sign pointing to them like some kind of Vegas attraction.

Sarril silently wished that he had brought along a Seeker, but no help for it. He'd told them all to stay away from here until he'd gotten a good look at the place and determined that it was (relatively) safe. Failing any handy maps, he proceeded to see if he could find a vampire somewhere to ask them.

The nightlife was beginning to pick up as he wanders and looks for a vampire, and practically ran into one as he went around a corner.

"Excuse me," the man began, then took a second look at the person he'd almost run headlong into and his expression shifted as he moved to stand near the building's wall and crooked a finger in pointed invitation to draw nearer. He was pretty damned short, standing under five feet tall, and his body was shrouded in a long leather coat that did nothing to hide the complex swirl of colors in his aura.

Sarril gave a slight shrug and went over that way as directed quietly.

Raphael wandered the streets nightly for many reasons, though one of his primary responsibilities was to keep an eye out for new faces among the Cainites. A new face either meant a traveler or someone who'd been embraced without permission, it was his to figure out which was which.

"Welcome to Selenis," he said when they were out of immediate earshot of passersby. "I haven't seen you Presented yet..."

"No, I've just arrived in town," he said, "And I'm afraid I don't know my way around. Could you direct me that way perhaps?"

He knew the rules and was looking to obey them which was a good sign, Raphael gave a few points for it. "Court's not scheduled for a few nights," he replied, "But the Prince sees new arrivals at the Legerdemain on the east side on off days." He gave a set of precise, simple directions, obviously well-familiar with the city and the shortest routes to get to the club from any given spot.

"Ah, thank you," he said, giving a polite tilt of his head to him and starting to head off that way.

It was a good night for a walk, though the cars passing back and forth along the streets would probably make for an easier time of the trip. A good opportunity to see a bit more of the city on the way, though, and he began to see that there was a _hell_ of a lot more vampires here than he was used to. The city had a population of several million, including the upper levels, and that could support a sizable vampire population.

The heaviest gathering was as he passed along a street packed building to building with clubs of all sorts and catering to all walks of life. A common theme was clear about them, though, in that there were vampires mixed freely throughout the crowds passing along the streets and going from club to club.

Sarril was rather surprised to see so many vampires. He had thought that the few dozen on Lezaria was a lot, but then they hadn't really made any point of making a ton of vampires senselessly. That was what Vadrak did. But his brood took a good deal more thought into it. He headed along casually, not even particularly concerned about the cars, as they looked a good deal safer than Lezaria's gnomish contraptions.

His path took him beyond the gathering of clubs soon enough, and he noticed a group of punkish bikers near the fringe standing beside motorcycles and conversing in low tones with the occasional look into the quieter zone beyond. They were all vampires, and not the most savory-looking types that he'd ever seen, looking like little more than thugs.

Sarril remembered what Falk had said, and not particularly caring to chat with them just now he just continued on, keeping to his own business.

Probably for the best, he found later as he continued into the more placid residential area beyond and was enfolded by the gentle sounds of night. Those sounds were suddenly buried beneath the roar of cyclists going past and shouting obscenities... the punks, and one of them lobbed something in a glittering arc to smash against a wall that exploded in a gout of expanding flame.

Thankfully they were about a block behind him at this point and seemed more intent on making lots of noise and some senseless destruction. Luckily, they hadn't managed to actually start anything on fire yet, the first molotov having shattered against a brick wall.

Sarril rolled his eyes and muttered something not particularly polite with regards to them and continued on with scarcely more than a glance back, and only that much to make sure nothing was flying in his direction.

They didn't seem particularly inclined to follow, having their own agenda for the night, and a rising howl of triumph emerged as Sarril continued quickly on. A shadow emerged from an alley between two buildings, spurring them to greater heights as the solitary werecat stalked silently out to glare at them with flashing eyes. They were really pretty stupid, thinking that the tiger was going to be alone in cat territory...

The two others that appeared with equally silent and deadly intent gave the gangers a rude shock as one of them lets out an unholy _snarl_ that made Sarril's hair stand on end even at this distance. That seemed to be the signal for the other two cats, and the crowing of the punks quickly devolved to a flurry of gunfire and screams. They might have come prepared with silver, but not much good if you were missing an arm.

Sarril took another glance back and continued on, wondering if it was always like this here. Well, admittedly, Falk never claimed that it was a particularly nice, happy, friendly place, but then, to be fair, neither was Lezaria or Torn Elkandu a lot of the time.

In another time and place the police would be expected to have been alerted and sirens on the night air, but no sign of them was heard or glimpsed in the dark of night. The people of the Intruda had come to openly recognize and accept their patrons, the only ones who might be called in would be the Garou were things to get ugly enough that the cats needed help. Shapeshifters took care of their own.

Sarril continued onward, reaching past the well-protected territory of the cats fairly quickly and moving into a more normal urban setting with the signs of gang habitation and the dregs of society prevalent. He could probably assume the sorts of trouble that went on in the back or just shadowed alleys, but none of it reached out to grab at him in passing and the district slowly improved a bit toward tidy business.

The Legerdemain wasn't far from that point, a four story building that had been the most modern that was available... at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Renovations had kept up with the passage of time, though, and the steady stream of patrons showed that it hadn't had any troubles keeping up with the times in that regard at least. Two burly guards flanked the doors, but they allowed him entrance without trouble.

Entering, he found himself on the main public entertainment level, consisting of a dance floor, a bar, and a stage for the occasional live band. Double doors discreetly placed near the bar led back into a kitchen. The vampire population was quite high here as it was one of the major gathering places for the Kindred of the city, perhaps one in ten among the party-goers.

Sarril headed in and glanced about the place thoughtfully. It was certainly different than he was used to, that was for sure. He went to look around to see if he couldn't locate this Prince, prepared to ask directions again failing that.

One thing he'd probably notice was that there wasn't a single mirror or reflective surface to be found anywhere, seemingly at odds with what he had been told before. There was a reason behind it, of course, as no one really wanted to see a Nosferatu as they really looked like if it could be avoided, but that wasn't posted on a message board nearby. More to the point of his objective, though, the bartender was a vampire...

Sarril didn't take much thought into that, as there hadn't exactly been mirrors hanging around the Crux either, or he'd have dragged Falk in front of one. He went and approached the bar.

"Well hello there!" the rather plain-looking 'tender offered in greeting. "What can I get ya, mac?"

An interesting point to note about him was that his aura extended several feet above the head of his appearance... odd. Sarril politely told him what he was looking for and why and asked for directions. The bartender listened to what Sarril had to say, and grinned.

"One sec, lemme get on the bat phone and set things winging along, she always has a minute to spare for new faces in town," the bartender said.

Of necessity, otherwise a new one wouldn't have the protection of the Traditions to cover them, which included the minor detail of Destruction. The barkeep dragged an old-fashioned looking phone out from under the bar and made a call, passed a few words with the other end, then hung up and pointed to a door at the other side of the club.

"Go on up to the fourth floor," the bartender said. "You're expected."

He returned to juggling a few shot glasses when Sarril headed off, in between filling drinks and food orders of course.

Sarril thanked him politely and headed over that way. He absently wondered what that strange talking device he'd used was, and thought that might be a more useful form of communication than "poke the nearest telepath".

The door led to a staircase, the only elevator in the place reserved for freight or official business. He passed several people along the way, though the majority of traffic on the stairs went no further than the second floor. The third floor door was sealed and guarded, as was the fourth, and a sharp-eyed man who looked uncomfortable in the suit he was wearing gives Sarril a once-over as he approached.

"Bar's downstairs," he said pointedly, the upper level the Prince's private domain as well as the handful she welcomed as guests while staying in the city.

Sarril, undeterred, politely told him why he was here. It felt rather strange to be on the other side of politics and things, he thought, but he certainly wasn't about to let anyone short of Streyka shake him.

After another equally brief conversation on a cell phone the young man pulled from his suit pocket, he tapped a code into the panel beside the door and gestured Sarril through to the small room beyond. The door slid shut behind him and he found himself faced by two vampires, a big black man who looked about as comfortable in his suit as the guy outside, and a petite blonde woman.

He could feel a trickle of power as the woman looked him over, and a return inspection of the two gave Sarril the impression that she was probably the more dangerous of the pair.

"I'll take him in," she said, then smirked at the man, "Check out my cards and I'll kick your ass, hear?"

The man grinned. "Jasmine, Jasmine, Jasmine, now would I do something like that?"

She smirked. "In a heartbeat."

The man chuckled and went back to sit at a small table nearby, holding the cards they'd been talking about, and the woman motioned to Sarril.

"This way," she said.

Sarril nodded and followed after her quietly. She kind of reminded him of Streyka, he thought.

Jasmine led the way out into a series of hallways, the carpet under their feet thick and plush enough to deaden the sound of their footfalls and the decorative scheme overall speaking of quiet good taste.

"New in town, eh?" she asked conversationally, taking a right. "Don't let Cordelia spook you, she's a tough old bitch when it comes down to it but as long as you don't cause trouble she's a damn good Prince."

"I do not intend to cause trouble," Sarril replied quietly as he followed her down the hall.

"Definitely not a Bru, then." Jasmine grinned as she stopped at a door and looked over at him. "Stick to that and you'll do fine here, even with the fuzzies." She opened the door and gestured inside, adding quietly, "Good luck."

"Certainly not." He thanked her quietly and went to step inside.

The room he entered was a tastefully decorated office with a couple rolling chairs set before a massive antique oak desk. Behind the desk in a slightly more elaborate and comfortable-looking chair sat a slender, dark-haired woman in a conservative business skirt suit, the pale blue eyes that turned immediately to examine them were without doubt the most arresting feature of her appearance. The one thing of note to the decor was that the wall to the right was one large mirror...

Sarril's lips gave a faint twitch as he gave a slight glance to her reflection and his own, and was fairly glad to have dealt with this little issue before coming here, and not only for himself too.

"Greetings," he said politely. "My name is Sarrilmilot Chelseer, but I generally go by Sarril Farmer."

"A pleasure to meet you," she replied. "I am Cordelia Ivanova, Prince of Selenis as I'm sure you've been led to understand." Her voice was naturally strong and has a faint lilt to it that comes of her long-distant heritage, a very compelling combination that lent itself well to her operatic training. "I would also ask the name of your Sire and clan affiliation," she continued. "It serves well for identification purposes."

Sarril decided he may as well just go with what they called themselves, regardless of how accurate it might be, and replied, "My sire's name is Donna Farmer. My bloodline is called Dragonblood."

Thought could almost be seen turning behind Cordelia's eyes as she briefly digested that. "I am unfamiliar with that bloodline, though perhaps not unsurprising as new ones are discovered or reemerge on a fairly regular basis. No matter." She waved it delicately away. "It will do for now. You are, I presume, familiar with the Traditions..." she trailed off, a sculpted brow lifting minutely in question.

"I would imagine you haven't heard of them," he replied, "the others are rather far away from here at the moment. And, I'm afraid, I know very little of these Traditions," he admitted.

Cordelia nodded, accepting the admission of ignorance without any real reaction as it wasn't all that uncommon. Gangrel were particularly bad about that, but some of the other clans and bloodlines were no better.

"The first, while once considered the most important and inviolable, is little more than a face-saving gesture these days, the Masquerade," she began, "While once it meant death to reveal your nature to the Kine... Now it is merely considered unwise to flaunt your nature too openly among them, lest the varied groups which seek to bring us harm fasten upon our actions as an excuse for their homicidal impulses."

Sarril nodded thoughtfully in agreement, thinking back on just how few people realized that Telkarnith Chelseer even _had_ a fourth son, and not by his wife, never mind that he was a vampire...

Cordelia studied him for any hint of reaction, then nodded once in apparent satisfaction at what she saw. "The second is that of Domain, which is a vital aspect of Kindred society as none may question the command of one who lays claim to a territory, their word is law. It is this which defines the power and responsibilities of a Prince, for through it is their will empowered."

Sarril nodded again. "Yes, of course," he murmured. He wondered with some amusement if he'd be considered the 'Prince' of Lezaria or some such, but wasn't really especially concerned about it at the moment as he didn't think most of the people here even realized it exists...

"The third is that of the Progeny," Cordelia continued, becoming stern. "This is inviolable, for numerous reasons, and states simply that you will not Embrace another and create a childe without the permission of the Prince. This has become more complex in the years we have allied with other supernaturals, and means certain death for Sire and Childe if it is found to be broken."

Sarril hadn't really thought about that, but considering the number of vampires around here he figured it was only good sense, and he nodded.

"The fourth," Cordelia smiled thinly, "ties securely into the third, the Accounting. Until such time as a childe is released and acknowledged as a part of Kindred society, the sire is responsible for any actions attributed to them and may be punished accordingly. A childe has no rights or status beneath Kindred law until they are released, and may be destroyed by any with only the chance of their sire's disfavor warding them. The sire, of course, ever retains the right of destruction for their own brood."

Well, that was kind of weird, he thought, but he figures that was only sensible as well. Especially considering what had happened with his first two childer. "I see," was all he murmured.

"The fifth," Cordelia continued, "Is what has brought you here before me, Hospitality. Had you chosen to ignore the directive of presentation, you would have no protection beneath the laws of the Kindred in this city. Once you are recognized wholly, you gain all the rights and responsibilities attendant with it, as I am obligated to extend certain protections and means to redress wrongs to you."

Sarril nodded again, thankful that Falk had told him what he was supposed to do at any rate.

"The sixth and final of the ancient Traditions," Cordelia said, "addresses the matter of destruction. None may destroy another of the Kindred, except under specific circumstances on penalty of their own Final Death. Only I hold that right, and those I specify as needful to attend their duties, as well as those who participate in a duly recognized Blood Hunt. The sole exception regards those of your own brood, as already mentioned."

Sarril nods. "Those sound only sensible, I think," he said.

"Good," Cordelia replied. "There are other additions which have come into being since the time Caine first decreed his laws, however, and they will change now and again as circumstances warrant it. Foremost to remember is that human law must also be obeyed or, as there are many activities which Kindred pursue that might be frowned upon, kept wholly from their eyes. To draw the attention of mortal law is to accept Final Death."

That seemed very strange to him, as the Elkandu habitually completely ignored mensch laws and the mensch couldn't generally do a damned thing about it, but that was probably fairly assholish of them sometimes, although in most cases it was pretty harmless... Sarril gave a nod again.

"The reasoning for that is two-fold," Cordelia explained. "First being that the Kine outnumber the Kindred overwhelmingly, and they have grown wise to the ways by which we may be destroyed en masse and possess the technology to do so."

Falk really was _not_ popular for forcing that state of affairs... imagine, having to pay heed to mortal laws and take responsibility for your actions. Intolerable!

"The second dagger to that is the shapeshifters, who ever have even a greater interest in the Kine for reasons of their own and have created a setting wherein the merely mortal has less control than they themselves hold. We have a treaty with them which maintains the peace, but to step beyond certain boundaries is to invite trouble which will be dealt with harshly by myself if they do not deal with it first."

That would explain it, he thought. They'd have had considerably more trouble had the Elkandu actually felt like enforcing much of anything, since they were about the only ones who _could_. Lezarians were still trying to ward off vampires with garlic after all. "I see, I see," he said.

"As part of that treaty," Cordelia went on, "The shapeshifters in the city do not hunt the Kindred, nor are we to hunt them. Infractions will be dealt with by the offended party, which is to say that if there are any survivors they will be relegated to the judgment of the opposing faction. The results are predictably fatal. Another aspect of the treaty is strictly enforced by all, that no Kindred is to kill their prey. To do so is to not only act against the treaty but to invite the attentions of mortal law, a factor already explained as ill-advised. The last remaining addendum applies to hunting as well, in that there will be no hunting upon the grounds of any Elysium just as no violence is allowed. This club is one such, and each clan maintains their own throughout the city."

Sarril nodded again and said, "Very well. I shall be certain to keep that in mind."

Cordelia smiled and tilted her head graciously. "So long as you bear these in mind, I hereby extend my Hospitality and will see that you are properly recognized among those who needfully ward. Is there anything which you would ask of me, or have need of clarification?"

Sarril thought for a moment, and thought that he ought to say something. If he wasn't on Lezaria, he might have come here, after all. "There is one matter which I believe I should call to your attention..." he murmured pensively.

Cordelia affected a politely attentive expression, silently inviting him to continue.

"When I say I'm from rather far away from here, I mean that I'm from another world entirely, a planet called Lezaria," he explained, watching her to see how crazy she seemed to think he was from that.

Cordelia was quite familiar in dealing with Malkavians and their ilk, she displayed no hint of a reaction as she placed this Dragonblood as one of their offshoots. Little matter, really, since this one had already shown that he was functional in a sense that the Kindred would find acceptable.

"I see," she replied calmly, playing along with the delusion, "I'm certain some of our customs may seem strange indeed, then. They should prove of no great burden so long as you don't seek to cause difficulty within their strictly-defined limits."

"Now, on an island on Lezaria, there was a very powerful and rather not especially nice vampire who called himself Vadrak, who was imprisoned deep underground centuries ago by strong magic," he said. "When I last checked on him three years ago, he was still there, but when I and Streyka went there to check on him last week... he was gone..."

Delusional he might be, but Cordelia recognized that there could be seeds of truth even among insanity and that the mention of a rogue Kindred was nothing to be readily dismissed. Her attention sharpened on her guest and she said, "The report of a potentially dangerous Kindred is an important matter indeed, and any details which might be utilized to bring them within control would be welcome."

"My mortal half-brother sealed him there using a powerful magical artifact around seven hundred years ago, and he remained there..." Sarril said. "I have reason to believe that he is very likely one of the 'Lasombra'..."

"I see," Cordelia replied, and discreetly looked toward the mirror to confirm what she'd already recognized there at the mention of the name and their known flaw. "And do you have any suspicions as to where he might seek to go, whether by natural inclination or familiarity?"

"I don't know," Sarril said. "My childer could not find him anywhere on Lezaria, and had he been causing trouble there or on the other Elkandu worlds, Mezulbryst, Straegarx and such, I doubtless would have heard of it, but nothing showed up in the Daily Seeker about it and Azale would never miss a big story like that. I believe that he might have returned to this planet for whatever reason..."

Cordelia smiled thinly in amusement at the persistence of the delusion, but replied, "Unless his attentions were to turn specifically to this city, there is little that I can do. There are other agencies, however, which are more inclined to track down potentially dangerous Kindred and it would likely be wise to contact them with as much detailed information as you may."

"I thought you might like to know, because he may well come here, as thus far all the traffic with the Nexus from Torn Elkandu to this planet has been to this particular city. I looked in the teleportation records. But I have several of my brood looking for him now. Who might I contact and where?"

"The forewarning is certainly appreciated," Cordelia replied smoothly, then pushed back to open a desk drawer and drew out a laptop and search through her contacts file. She wrote a couple of phone numbers on an index card and slid it across her desk to him. "The first will place you in contact with the Garou, who are always vigilant in such matters. The second..." a flicker of restrained distaste emerged and as quickly vanished. "That will provide contact with the National Bureau of Paranormal Affairs, specifically the division relating to Kindred-associated investigations."

He took it up and looked at it for a moment and said, "These numbers don't look like teleportation coordinates..."

"No, they're phone numbers," Cordelia replied patiently. "They can be reached at any time of the day or night."

"Phone numbers?" he said slowly, then said, "Ooh, you mean those funny talking-devices? Right."

Someone had clearly been out of contact for far too long, Cordelia mused, whether in torpor or complete mental disassociation, and she took out a cell phone to make a quick call of her own. She smiled at him as she finished, "I've arranged for someone to help you with it, it's not unusual for technology to be unfamiliar to the Kindred to one degree or another."

"Right, thank you," he said. "They do not have these 'phones' on my planet, but they appear to be very useful and I may have to look into getting them."

A light knock sounded at the door, then Jasmine poked her head in and looked to Cordelia in question. "You rang?"

Cordelia gave a brief, understated explanation of the difficulty, kindly refraining from mentioning her own conclusions regarding the man's mental state, and assigned the young woman the detail of catching him up to some semblance of speed.

Jasmine grinned at Sarril. "A bit dusty, huh? No prob, we'll get you up and running in no time."

"Yes, thank you, it would be much appreciated," he said, and said to Cordelia, "It was a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for the information and advice."

"The pleasure was mine," Cordelia replied with practiced politeness, then smiled and shook her head, settling back behind her desk as Jasmine took charge of the guest.


	3. Not a Malkavian

Jasmine led him back out of the office, glancing aside curiously. "So, what's the story on being _that_ behind? Ancient temple, remote desert isle, some moldy old catacombs?"

"I'm from another planet," Sarril explained. "It's a rather nice place. I could show you sometime if you like. It's just a quick trip through the Nexus."

"You're a Malk? Damn." Jasmine smirked, shaking her head, and left the continuation of that unspoken with only an impish twist to the smirk. "So how far behind are things on Planet X? Shouldn't be too tough to at least get you caught up on the basics that'll keep you in touch with society."

"It's called Lezaria," he said. "Well, there's some high tech things, flying cars and such, but they're primarily gnomish contraptions that it's probably not safe to use unless you enjoy being set on fire or blown to pieces. Although with the elves helping them out a bit they occasionally make something worth using." He added after a moment's pause, "And what's a Malk?"

Jasmine smiled a bit at the thorough belief that his private scenario implied, and pieces together what that probably meant. "Okay, so you're familiar with cars at least, that's good."

She turned down a separate corridor from the earlier path, leading the way to what looked like a combination office and... workout room. A mat covered the floor and the office things were pushed pretty much out of the way.

"Have a seat," she said, motioning to a chair nearby, and crossed over to hop up on the edge of the desk. "Can I have anything sent up for you? Blood's on me if you need it." She poised with the receiver of the phone at her ear, waiting for his reply.

He took a seat and said, "No, thank you. I ate before I teleported in."

Jasmine placed an order for some wine for herself then and returned the receiver to the cradle, legs swaying idly as she waits for the sound of the dumbwaiter's arrival.

"So telephones are needed, pretty difficult to get along without them these days. _Everyone_ has a cell phone now! Hmm..." She looked at him thoughtfully, thinking about wastes, then went on, "How about computers?"

"I never much bothered with the strange machines on Suzy's spaceship," he said. "She left a bunch of her things in Tinemocun last time she was there. Funny square pieces of glass with images of distant places in them... I didn't know what to do with them though so I left them well enough alone."

A soft tone chimed and Jasmine hopped off the desk to retrieve her drink, then turns back to look at him pensively, taking a sip.

"Hmm, well, I suppose you _can_ get by without computer savvy," she said. "Wouldn't be something _I'd_ want to do, though, since you lose a lot data feeds that way, and email's just darned convenient. Strictly 'getting by' levels, though, I suppose the phone's about tops on the list."

"Oh, it looks very useful, certainly. I would imagine it's less of a hassle than telepathy, too," Sarril said. "I'm going to have to ask Suzy to see if she can come up with some that work cross-dimensionally. That would be handy."

"Riight." Jasmine chuckled and set her glass aside, then walked over to show him the very basic functions of how they worked, including the different varieties from desktop to cell. She made brief mention of things like email and text messaging and email, subtly trying to draw him into showing an interest in the more complex aspects of the technology and its connecting factors.

At least he just appeared clueless and not technophobic. He started pondering the possibilities of extradimensional email too. "Hmmm, yes, I could see how that would be useful..."

Gotcha, Jasmine murmured inwardly with a grin, and expands a little more on the topic to explain the crossovers to computers and all the things that _they_ could do. She was perfectly willing to answer questions and clarify something at the smallest sign that he wasn't quite getting a part of what she was saying. Quite astute at picking that up, in fact, with Auspex as a clan discipline...

"I wonder of this thing could hook up with the Eyes of Truth somehow..." he murmured thoughtfully. "That's Suzy's spaceship, as I mentioned. Very interesting thing, I've no idea how it works."

"Why are they always Malks?" Jasmine mused under her breath and smiled wryly. "Well anyway, looks like you have the basic ideas down, I'd be happy to show you anything else you can think of that you've seen on the technology side and don't understand."

"Hmm. I think I'm going to teleport back to Lezaria briefly and see about contacting the Eyes of Truth and see what I can arrange," he said. "It's just up in orbit of Lezaria, shouldn't take long. Would you like to come with?"

Jasmine smirked, arms folding across her stomach. "Just like that, huh? Beam me up, Scotty?" She sighed and shook her head. "I guess that's all I can do for you right now, unless something else comes up. Feel free to call me if you run across something." Walking around the desk, she dug in a drawer to dig out a business card and held it out to him.

He thanked her and put it in his pocket with the others. "But my name is Sarril, not Scotty. But it's really very simple." He explained the process of how to Recall briefly.

Oh what the hell, Jasmine decided, what would it cost to humor him for a little bit? It wasn't like she was about to let him use Dominate or Dementation on her or anything, and he'd get a painful shock if he tried! She listened to the 'process' and nodded at all the right places, 'uh-huh'ing occasionally.

Sarril smiled and said, "Come whenever you like, if you like." He proceeded to do it himself and reached out to the Nexus to Recall.

Jasmine looked around in blank surprise as he vanished, her puzzlement even sharper at the sudden weird flicker she'd gotten at the edges of Auspex just before and after he'd gone. What the... Oh, Cordelia was going to be _really_ suspicious of the guy disappearing right out from under her nose! She bit her lower lip and went back over what he'd said, actually having listened and now trying to put the pieces of some sort of sense together.

 _What a wonderful idea, let's introduce Elkandu to cell phones, now they'll never shut up..._ He didn't waste any time in contacting the Eyes of Truth, which was naturally happy to provide him with whatever he needed, just the way Suzy made it. He was sure to get it to send one to Streyka too.

Cordelia was _never_ going to believe this! Jasmine wasn't particularly worried about it, really, but it was kinda bad to have it happen on _her_ shift. She poked at the impossible string of instructions in the so-called process, wondering what the _hell_ he'd done... and then wondering a bit more about her own sanity as the world shifted around her. The sky wasn't supposed to be that color, or the people, or...

She staggered in surprised shock and caught herself up against one of the Nexus arcs. What the... she looked at the thing she's leaning against. Runes?

A centaur wearing a leather jacket with a blue mohawk trotted past and handed her a pamphlet that said literally, "Join [insert faction that no longer exists here!]". Sarril was nowhere in sight at first, but momentarily he reappeared with something that looked like some sort of fancy phone.

Jasmine accepted the pamphlet without thinking, the centaur not really blowing a fuse but just adding to the surreality. There were fae and all sorts of weird things back home, hell the castle had a damn griffin who'd roosted there! That sky, though... Swirling purple-black was _not_ normal!

"We aren't in Kansas anymore, Toto," she muttered, then shook herself and took a closer look at the pamphlet she'd been given.

In ornate letters inside it, there were words that said, "Normally, this would be an invitation to join Tempest, but since Tempest doesn't exist anymore, why am I even doing this? Also, why are you actually reading this thing? Nobody actually reads these!"

Sarril approached her and said, "Oh, hey, glad you could join me. Look what I've got!" He showed her the 'phone'.

Jasmine snickered at the pamphlet, even though she has no idea what this Tempest might be she could appreciate the sarcastic humor that went with the rest of the message. She tucked it into a pocket of her slacks and looked over as Sarril spoke.

"Um, where are we exactly?" she asked deliberately politely.

"This is the Nexus of Torn Elkandu," he explained. "It's located in the Ethereal Plane adjacent to the planet Lezaria. The Nexus here allows teleportation to a large number of other worlds, universes, and such. While you're here, would you like to visit Tinemocun, on Lezaria, and meet Streyka? She's my favorite childe." Only living one, he added to himself.

"So you're not a Malk," Jasmine huhed.

She took another good look around and tried to fit it into rational lines. It wasn't really difficult, things weren't all that much different than back home other than the bizarre color of the sky. There wasn't even any higher percentage of freaks running around than on the average Saturday night.

"Umm," she remarked, thinking about it a second more, then grinned a little and shrugged. "I don't see why not, if I can accept that I'm seeing this with the full knowledge I'm not some raving nutcase in a rubber room someplace then may as well see what else might be around."

Sarril smiled, and stepped into the Nexus, and proceeded to channel a little into the runes to activate them, keeping firmly in mind his destination. In a moment, their surroundings shifted to something at least a little less weird. It was a beautiful night on Lezaria, the stars shining brightly and two crescent moons hanging in the sky, a large silver one and a small green one. They appeared to have arrived on the balcony of some sort of castle-city-fortress, and had a good look at the network of buildings and walkways below, a central green courtyard, but much of the city itself was indoors.

Jasmine looked up at the moons, then took a good solid look around. "It's beautiful," she breathed, captivated by the utterly alien mixed in with the fantasy elements.

"Welcome to Lezaria," he said, smiling broadly.

Momentarily, the thick curtains at the doors to the balcony rustled, and a female vampire with long, golden hair and bright green eyes stepped out. "Oh, you're back, and with company," Streyka said. "Hello. My name is Streyka Wilder Chelseer Dragonblood."

"Hello." Jasmine nodded in greeting, momentarily taking a mental step back into the stance useful when dealing with other Kindred back home. It was getting a bit more difficult, though, as she realized that the ears apparently weren't just Malk-isms for Sarril seeing as the woman had them too.

"As I don't recognize you, I'll presume you're from that world Sarril was talking about," Streyka said, intentionally wording it as a statement and not a question. She had always had difficulty turning her Speech power _off_ , but she had learned to deal with it.

"Oh yes," Jasmine replied easily, the reserve vanishing as she grinned. "And here I thought he was just a Malk with delusions of other worlds. Never thought..." The grin turned to an expression of embarrassment as she looked over at Sarril. "Sorry."

Sarril chuckled softly.

"There's a reason why the first Elkandu who went on Explorations kept their true origins quiet," Streyka said, heading out to lean against the balcony railing.

A gentle spring breeze was blowing past, and beyond the city a good view of white-capped mountains in the distance could be seen.

"No one's going to believe this," Jasmine sighed, then walked over to lean on the railing and look at the scenery, smiling as the wind ruffled her hair. "Oh well, their loss, though..." she looked over at Sarril again with a wince. "You didn't mention any of this to Cordelia, did you?"

Sarril said, "Oh, yeah, I told her all about it. And about the little issue with Vadrak. Any word on that by the way?" he asked Streyka.

Streyka replied, "Not yet."

"Oy, no wonder she was playing it so straight-laced, she probably thinks you're totally _nuts_ ," Jasmine said and smirked. "Not a lot to do about it now though, other than to keep the _rest_ of the Kindred from thinking the same..." She paused. "And who's Vadrak?"

"I guess there's worse things to be thought of," Sarril said.

A six foot tall flying monkey appeared from the balcony entrance and said politely, "Do you require anything, Masters?"

"Flying monkeys?" Jasmine only partially restrained a fit of laughter, loosing a little of it as she completely clamped down on any Wizard of Oz references to maintain at least _some_ sense of dignity and respect for the creature.

The Zephyl looked completely unfazed, as if he was used to this reaction. The fact that he was wearing a crisp, clean butler-like suit probably didn't help either.

Streyka said, "Not I. Do you need anything?" she asked Jasmine.

Jasmine put a hand over her mouth to keep anything else from escaping, then managed to regain control and reply with a quirked grin. "Nothing, thanks."

Sarril likewise waved him off, and the Zephyl gave a bow and left. Sarril said, "Right, where were we... Yes, Vadrak. He's a very powerful and dangerous vampire who plagued this planet for thousands of years until he was finally sealed away in a dungeon by my mortal half-brother, Shaznith. However, when we went to check on him last week, we discovered that he was no longer there."

"And you think he might head for Selenis?" Jasmine asked.

Streyka said, "My Seekers could find no trace of him on Lezaria or any of the other main Elkandu worlds. If he's still here, he's well-hidden."

Sarril explained, "I believe that he may be originally from your planet, and I believe that he may have been a 'Lasombra'..."

Jasmine made a face at that. "Great, another shadow slinker. Blech. On the plus side, the fuzzies have plenty of experience with routing them out, so does Falk, he's a hunter from our world," she explained. "Considering they wiped out the various Sabbat meths and some other really nasty things, I doubt there'd be any real problem."

"I've met Falk, yes," Sarril said. "Over in Torn Elkandu, before he headed back. Apparently he had been hunting down the remnants of Vadrak's brood on Mezulbryst, I believe. We drove them off Lezaria centuries ago."

"So _that's_ where he disappeared to." Jasmine smirked. "Had a lot of people hoping he was gone until he showed up again a month or so ago, not that the Scourge bloodline's been lazy or anything, they just don't have quite the same name. Anyway." she looked over at the two. "Something you said has me wondering. Why didn't you just kill this guy if he was such a pain in the rear?"

Streyka raised her hand and said, "I wasn't born yet."

Sarril smirked and said, "My father tried -- he was killed in the process. My brother showed up and took up his magic sword and sealed him in. Whatever he did was damned strong, and while we could see through it, it wouldn't let anyone in or out. Even held through the Planar Wars too."

"Weird," Jasmine mused. "I would have figured someone would diablerize him rather that leaving him sealed up like that. It'd make a lot more sense, and give someone a boost even if it's generally looked down on..." She shrugged.

"I wish he'd been destroyed," Sarril said, "But if he was strong enough to kill the great Telkarnith Chelseer..."

"Yeah, I've always heard meths are really dangerous, and seen a bit of that in the ones wandering around," Jasmine agreed. "But it can be done, I remember hearing it happened to Set, the founder of the Setites, and he was apparently one tough old magic-slinging sucker."

"Well, if he shows his face anywhere on the Elkandu worlds and starts up his old shit, he'll get them after him," he said. "The Windriders did well enough to cull his brood on Lezaria for much of that time. Oh, they're elves that fly giant birds."

"I doubt he'll do much better back home," Jasmine smirked. "At least if he decides to stir things up. The Sabbat found out the hard way that it just doesn't pay to get in the way of the fuzzy lawnmower of progress." Windriders? The idea was a common enough one in fantasy, and the idea softened the smirk to a smile.

"The Elkandu these days are a lot more powerful than they were when they were first founded, and there certainly wasn't anything on their caliber when I was alive," he said. "Powerful mages, they've even taught me a thing or two. But no, Vadrak was not a very nice person. He created a bunch of childer just to have them go off and terrorize people, who generally attempted to defend themselves with garlic." He sighed.

Jasmine chuckled. "Yeah well, the hunters weren't exactly any better until the past hundred years maybe. Now between them, the fuzzies, and the Scourge, it's generally a good idea to stay on decent behavior at least. The kine have gotten a lot smarter over time, and knowing we're really out there even put the government in mind of updating little things like flamethrowers."

She shivered as though chilled, remembering seeing one of the 'new and improved' things at work. It'd been really ugly, and she'd seen plenty of nasty things while she was ghouled!

Streyka said, "I'd best be off now. I've got a meeting to get to. It was nice meeting you." She headed for the curtains.

"Likewise," Jasmine replied, smiling politely, then looked out over the railing again as the woman left. "Can't remember the last time I saw a view anything even close to this. Been in cities too much lately, I guess."

Sarril grinned broadly. "Well, there's allll kinds of things to see around the Elkandu worlds if you're up to sightseeing sometime. But I imagine somebody might get concerned if they noticed we just disappeared, eh?"

Jasmine smirked, looking over at him. "Yeah, I was wondering how I was going to explain your disappearing to the Prince. And I don't think my brother or Sire would be too happy if I vanished without a trace." She sighed and pushed away from the railing. "Better get back before something blows up."

"But I'm sure I could arrange a little tour at some point in the future when you've actually got an excuse for not being around." He winked. He Recalled them back to the Nexus.

"I'd like that," Jasmine replied as the weird sky reemerged, then looked up and pointed at the bizarrely offending feature and demanded. "But I want to know what is _up_ with that?"

Sarril shrugged. "I dunno, that's just how the sky in this layer of the Ethereal has looked ever since the Planar Wars. Before then, it had a fair imitation of a real sky. But then the drow and the vampires complained about the sun so that mockery got put up."

Jasmine looked suddenly thoughtful at that, realizing she wasn't in the least inconvenienced by the light. "Okay, well I suppose it _does_ have some uses. Errr, and the Ethereal? Planar Wars?" She grinned. "We're simply going to _have_ to trade some stories."

"I imagine," he said, grinning.

He activated the Nexus to return them to the point where they had left.

"There's something to be said for the familiar," Jasmine said as they return to the 'office', then tilted her head to look at him. "But then I suppose all of this looks pretty odd to you, doesn't it? I didn't see a lot of the things that I take for granted anywhere there."

"But I did get this," he said, pulling the little device out of his pocket. "The Eyes of Truth was very helpful."

"Yeah, let's see," Jasmine said, going over to take a look. "What carrier's going to pick up a custom cell for service, anyway?"

He looked at her as if she was speaking a foreign language. He put it down and clicked a button, and the thing expanded into something more resembling a laptop. The screen said, "Eyes of Truth server standing by. Please enter your request."

"Oh, now _that_ is nice..." Jasmine murmured, taking a look over his shoulder. "The last time I saw something like that was with a Glass Walker."

"It's voice-activated too," he said. "Computer, display the current weather in Iron City." It promptly brought up on the screen an image of rain, lightning, dark clouds, complete with real-time animation and sound. Sarril grinned broadly.

Jasmine pffted. "Okay fine, you don't need to worry about the smaller tech things with that thing around. But can it drive a car?"

"Um..." Sarril said, looking at the rain sheepishly.

"Uh-huh." Jasmine smirked. "And you're going to walk all over the city, hoping that dawn doesn't catch up with you before you can get back to your haven, right?"

"I'll presume these things are fairly safe and not built by gnomes?"

"Trust me, the rats in Detroit would _eat_ any gnomes that poked their heads out to even think about it." Jasmine chuckled. "Come on, I'll prove it."

Sarril poked the computer and it shrunk down again and he pocketed it. Jasmine waited for him with a pointed look, tapping one foot, then led the way out at a brisk pace.

"So, you're just going to hop back and forth, or set up some place in the city?" she asked along the way.

Sarril shrugged. "I dunno. It's a rather interesting place, from what little I've seen so far, I'll admit. Though I suppose I could as easily go back to Torn Elkandu during the day."

Jasmine led the way back downstairs, staying near that they could continue the conversation at a low volume. "Don't have the problem of staying awake through the day that's normal here, huh?" she asked.

"Not there at least, no," he said. "Mezulbryst and Straegarx don't have a sun at all either. And Lezaria's days are twenty-eight hours long instead of twenty-four..."

"Can't say I can complain about it," Jasmine replied, ducking into the main dance level and hurrying through toward the back, then continued when they're ducking through the kitchen and the noise lowered, "Dreams are worth having."

"Not that I usually do most of the time, anyway," he said. "And dreams there tend to be fricking weird. Got too many bored Dreamwalkers wandering around."

"Nothing wrong with a little weird," Jasmine countered, then grinned back at him as they ducked out the back and emerged into a parking lot. "Besides, there's just some times that seem to call for a nice, lazy drowsing off."

She dug a set of keys out of her pocket and pressed a button to unlock the doors of a small sportster.

He chuckled, and shrugged. "Surely."

He glanced over the vehicles briefly and decided that they looked a good deal safer than anything a gnome might have built.

Jasmine climbed in and reached over to push the passenger door open. "Climb aboard!" she said, then leaned back and flipped a switch to retract the roof. Great for keeping the goons at bay, but no fun while driving. The little roadster roared to life, then settled to a more subdued, smooth purring.

Sarril climbed in and looked about for some safety restraining measure and fumbled with that a bit. Jasmine grinned and displayed the seatbelt by smoothly drawing her own and snapping it into place.

"Voila!"

She waited to make sure he was tied in, though it was not _quite_ as important for vamps as for the kine, then backed out of the parking space and eased out of the parking lot to pause at the entryway, hmming thoughtfully. Still, it's rather inconvenient to go flying off, even if it was probably not going to really hurt you all that much.

"Ah, yes," Sarril said. "Much nicer than the gnomish 'glittercars'. It doesn't sound like it's about to blow up."

"Nah, I keep him in better shape than that," Jasmine replied and patted the dashboard fondly, then kicked in the gas as she got an idea on just where to go. "Still want to talk to someone about this big, nasty person you're worried about?"

Sarril gave a nod and said, "I'd better, I suppose. He's out there, somewhere, and whatever he's doing, I don't doubt I won't like it."

"Been a while since I've been out that way," Jasmine said as they coasted to a pause at a stoplight and put a headset on. "Better call ahead so they don't wonder what a couple leeches are doing out there, maybe decide to turn us into a smoking pile of ash or something." She chuckled and put out a call.

He nodded, and glanced around nonchalantly at their surroundings a bit more. He had to admit that this method of transportation probably had its benefits. Unless you were a Traveler, short-range teleportation was unreliable at best and probably more effort than it was worth, after all.

Jasmine chatted a couple minutes on the phone, neatly avoiding the other cars that they passed on the way toward the proper exit from the city, and ended the conversation on a cheerful 'Seeya in a bit!'. She was smiling cheerfully as she took the headset off. "Be good to get up there again, and the drive's a nice one."

"How far is it?" he asked, watching the landscape go by as they drive.

"Oh, about forty miles," Jasmine replied, grinning as they break past the city's barrier and she reset the roof to seal them in. "About a twenty minute trip."

The landscape passing sped considerably as the car growled and leapt forward, speedometer climbing and staying around 120 with plenty to spare.

"Yes, I do believe I'd rather have not tried to walk there," Sarril admitted.

"Well, you could have just called up there," Jasmine admitted. "But you should have thought of that before getting stuck for the trip, mwahaha!"

She twisted the wheel a little bit with the light maniacal laugh, but returned to a steady path with a chuckle.

Sarril snickered softly. "I don't mind. See more of the world, eh?"

"Yeah, something like that," Jasmine grinned. "Maybe even get you used to the idea that cars aren't gnomish hell-engines and actually fit to drive sometime?"

Sarril chuckled again. "It's not so bad. Not bad at all."

Jasmine settled into driving, ever enjoying the sight of the world zipping by, and casually asked, "So, with just the glimpse I got of things out where you came from, what in the world decided you to come here? Don't get me wrong, this can be a really nice place sometimes, but there's... a lot of not nice to it too."

"Well, as I said, I ran into Falk in Torn Elkandu and he told me a bit about it. And I suspected that it might be the world where the vampires on Lezaria were originally from. There aren't a lot of us on Lezaria... sixty-three, to be exact, at the moment. Unless somebody's hiding really well somewhere."

"Really?" Jasmine looked over at him in surprise. "On the whole _world_? There's over three thousand in Selenis alone! Must be nice." She shook her head, looking pensively out at the night and thinking of all the 'fun' games that the Kindred played.

Sarril nodded. "They're all descended from me, nowadays. The ones that weren't.. well, Vadrak's ones got hunted down one by one, and with him being sealed away he didn't get much chance to make anymore. Took some casualties in the recent invasion, though. Turns out when an entire town gets burned to the ground, being supposedly immortal won't help you."

"Heh, no, that's one of the few things that'll get us." Jasmine nodded. "See that used now and then with the 'accidents' that happen among the Kindred, pretty good tactic if you have some pull with the local fire department so they won't show up too quickly."

"Was some nasty business. A fleet of crazed mutants and cultists from another dimension had shown up. Millions of mensch were killed. Er, wait, what was it you called them here? Kine?"

Jasmine made a face. "Yeah, beats the derogatory term 'lick', though it's still pretty much a label any way you look at it."

"Well, that's what the Elkandu call them, at any rate. But they primarily intended it as a term meaning 'people who aren't mages'. Though it works well enough I suppose. Mensch just ended up being expanded to mean 'people who aren't mages, undead, shapeshifters, etcetera'." He smirked. "But then, Elkandu are nothing if not arrogant."

"I try to avoid it myself," Jasmine shrugged. "Just seems kind of disrespectful after all the things I've seen regular people do to defend themselves and others. Underestimating their ingenuity is a baaaad idea, and besides..." she smiled a bit, "My brother and I spent a good eighty years or so as ghouls before we were embraced. Gives a little perspective to start at the bottom."

"Well, after it got out that anyone could learn magic if they put the time and effort into it, most people, apparently, decided that it was a bit too much time and effort than they cared to do in order to not hope to do much more than light a pipe in the next few years..."

"The eternal sharkette," Jasmine smirked, then slowed as they near the turnoff and head into the tree line. "There's worse things than doing your own thing and not bothering anyone else, though. You're just lucky you didn't run across my evil cousins."

"What, were they somehow worse than Vadrak's brood? Like, actually smart evil instead of stupid evil?" He smirked.

Jasmine snickered. "No, stupidus maximus covers them, twittering idiots extraordinaire that're guaranteed to suck your brains out just by listening to them. Sometimes I really wonder about my clan, yesh."

"Heh," he said. "What would that be?"

"Just as long as you don't hold it against me." Jasmine snorted only half-humorously, then answered, "Toreador."

"Don't see why I would," he said. "I didn't even know there were 'clans' until I met Falk last month."

Jasmine smirked. "And he didn't warn you about them? I'm shocked, considering all the trouble they put him through because he was the Prince's childe until he got the point across. Not that my brother and I did any better because of our own Sire." She shrugged. "There's still a few old-style Torrie's out there that're worth the time, most are just ads for staking."

"I wouldn't say 'warn' precisely, although he did complain about them a bit," he said with a faint smirk.

"Now that's more like it." Jasmine chuckled, then slowed further as they reached the last few switchback turns. "Almost there, just a word of warning not to freak if you see something fuzzy and clawed about your size. That'll be the metis cubs or the lupus, they won't bother you." She smirked, " _I'm_ probably gonna get mobbed, though."

"One can't spend much time in Torn Elkandu and still be freaking out about strange and furry beings."

"Yeah well, just fair warning." Janice grinned, that kind of ease not something that she'd expect out of any vampire that hadn't spent some serious time around the fuzzies. It'd taken her a while to get used to them herself, the idea of the raging engines of destructive mayhem as friends and just _people_ hadn't been an easy one to get over. But then she hadn't known the difference between them and BSDs either.


	4. At the Sept

She dropped the car's speed to little more than a crawl as they pulled onto the gravel outside the lodge, angling the sleek little vehicle over to one side to park with the rest and then climbs out. Narrowed eyes looked around for signs of the inevitable ambush, but she didn't see anything headed their way just yet...

"We may be clear," she says dubiously, and heads for the lodge.

Sarril got out with a bit of a smirk and said, "May be? Your certainty is overwhelming." He followed after her.

"They're sneaky little buggers," Jasmine replied, grinning a bit as she got to the door. "Looks like we managed a successful surprise infiltration, though. Let's get inside before they figure it out." She headed in and crossed to the bar/greeting desk/food counter. "Hiya Betty," she greeted the woman tending.

Sarril strolled in after her, glancing about the vicinity thoughtfully and giving a bit of a wave in the general direction of the woman at the counter.

The two women passed a few pleasantries, obviously knowing each other well enough, then Betty went 'Uh-oh' as she pointed over toward a corner of the main room. A young metis, standing all of about five feet tall, had come up from their undergound cave for a late-night snack. It paused halfway across the floor, recognizing at least one stranger, then perked up at a more familiar scent and went darting back through the door it came from.

"You've been made," Betty said, to which Jasmine smirks.

"Yeah, better get Sarril here out of the blast radius. Mr. Grant around? I think he's gonna want to hear this."

"Sure enough," the tender nodded, "I'll give him a ring and see if he's available. Why don't you take a seat near the interrogation table?" She grinned at Sarril.

Sarril looked a bit confused at the 'blast radius' comment. Sarril said, "Sure thing," and went over to take a seat.

Jasmine followed him over but didn't take a seat, just to make sure he got settled in. "Since you seemed to get along fine with Cordelia, Mr. Grant should be a breeze," she commented, then restrained a smile, mostly. "And he's probably less likely to think you're crazy if you let something slip. They deal with some pretty odd stuff all the time."

Sarril snickered softly. "I'll keep that in mind. I think."

"Uh-oh," Jasmine murmured in echo of the 'tender, her attention on the returning small horde of young metis who tumble through the doorway and look around. "Seeya in a bit," she said with a wink.

She ambled deliberately casually toward the bar, whistling and looking up like she didn't have a care or clue about a thing in the world. That was just the bait, and the cubs took it with subdued glee, stalking 'stealthily' forward.

The leading cub got within range and made a sudden leap at her, snarling ferociously, then yelping in surprise as she whirled, grabbed one outstretched arm, and sent the two or three hundred pound critter soaring past her with a twist and flip. It devolved from there into a clearly playful brawl, though both sides were definitely playing rougher than normal kids would, and the Torrie woman showed a great facility for sneaky martial moves.

Sarril sat by, watching curiously with a faint grin. He thought they were kind of cute.

"Enough!" a voice roared, and the scene froze mid-tumble, all eyes in the melee turning guiltily toward the man who had appeared from the stairs leading upward. "How many times does it have to be said? No rough-housing indoors. Out! All of you out!"

They protested, though not too greatly, and streamed to the door, Jasmine offering a grin and a lazy salute to the man before going out with them. Gideon puts a hand to his face and shook his head in fond exasperation, then schools his expression as he headed in Sarril's direction.

"Good evening," he said formally, "I've been told you have business with me."

Sarril chuckled softly at the cute fuzzies as they leave, and looked up to him. "Greetings. I believe so, yes. I'm Sarril Farmer."

"Gideon William Morrison the Third," he replied with a polite tilt of his head and slips gracefully into a seat.

Betty walked over and poured a cup of coffee for him, smiled at his nod of thanks, then left the pot and crossed back to the counter.

Gideon took a sip of coffee, "And what may I do for you this night, Mr. Farmer?"

"Well, if we're getting formal, my birth name is Sarrilmilot Chelseer, but I rarely go by that," he said with a shrug. "But yeah."

"My apologies for the seeming formality," Gideon replied. "A peril in the way of things, I fear." He smiled faintly. "Be thankful that the Kindred do not require the full introduction, else I would need to add the various ranks and titles associated and be at it still." He took a sip of his coffee again, amused.

Sarril chuckled softly and said, "Well enough. Now, as to the matter at hand. First off, let me state that I'm from another world. And I'm not a Malk." Slip, nothing, he couldn't figure how else he might explain about this all, aside from being extremely vague about just where Vadrak had been sealed.

The amusement became more pronounced at the disclaimer, and Gideon replied dryly, "I appreciate the candor, and can assure you that I am quite familiar with the concept of other worlds and will thus avoid immediately relegating you to the status of a madman."

Sarril nodded, and went on, "I'm from a world called Lezaria. Now, a long time ago, I don't know precisely how long but it had to have been at _least_ three thousand years, by Lezarian time at least, a vampire calling himself Vadrak came to Lezaria. I believe he was one of what was called the 'Lasombra' here. He and his brood terrorized the place for some thousands of years, until seven hundred years ago, he was sealed deep underground by strong magic. He remained there up until at some point during the last three years, in which he appears to have escaped somehow. However, he isn't on Lezaria or any of the other nearby worlds, unless he's hidden himself particularly well to hide from my Seekers."

"Hmm," Gideon considered the information thoughtfully. "That is not an insignificant potential threat, by any means, as vampires of that age and likely generation are powerful entities indeed. There are means to deal with them, however, including methods specific to the shapeshifters of this world in relation to the older evils." There'd never been much luck in explaining Wyrm-corruption to the Kindred, so he didn't try. "Considering this Vadrak originates from this world, I would suspect the same basic natural laws will apply and make those methods quite effective in detecting the disturbance such a one would generate. Is there anything specific which should be noted regarding his abilities? Obtenebration is familiar, of course, but methuselahs often develop unique branches of their abilities."

Sarril said, "Can't say I really spent much time around him, but I can get that information easily enough, I think." He pulled out his computer from his pocket and expands it, and said, "Computer, display any information you have on the vampire Vadrak." Promptly, an image and text appeared on the screen.

"You have a file on him? Excellent." Gideon nodded in approval. "I would appreciate a copy of it, if possible. Any information available will make the analysis that much easier on the Glass Walkers." 

Sarril glanced over the screen. The entry read, "Vadrak is an ancient vampire who originated from the universe designated as the World of Darkness. He first arrived on Lezaria at some point prior to the creation of the Wizard's Guild and the beginning of the Lezarian calendar, approximately five thousand years ago. Vadrak was not the original name he went by. He previously called himself 'Valdrakkel', which is a Zarhian name meaning 'Shining Free Darkness'. This was actually a modified form of the name 'Vlad Dracul'. Whether he was the original Dracula or just some punk who thought it would be cute to call himself that is open for debate, although I'm inclined to believe the latter. Notable traits and habits include lack of reflection, a strange proclivity toward caves and dungeons, and a tendency toward creating large numbers of childer as cannon fodder, as well as turning his enemies' relatives into vampires to piss them off. His Talents include Illusion (especially Shadow Magic), Mind, Seeking, Motion (both teleportation and telekinesis), and some minor Catalysm."

"Those traits should provide a pretty clear sign of where he might be operating if he does show up here." Gideon grimaced. "City Princes tend to raise loud protests about mass conversions, and the various world governments keep track for signs of anything of that nature." He hmmed thoughtfully. "If these 'talents' are as self-explanatory as the names suggest, at least there's nothing really unusual in ability."

Sarril said, "I guess the only one there that isn't self-explanatory is Catalysm, and that's hard to explain. I don't really understand it myself. But it's essentially the manipulation of magic on a fundamental level. Well, there's more to it than that, but I guess if it's only listed as 'minor' it shouldn't be that much of a concern. I don't know where he is or what he's doing right now. I've got some people looking for him right now. But since he's originally from this world, apparently, I thought he might decide to try something here. Maybe. If he isn't on Lezaria.."

"There are peculiarities of this world that will make the process much simpler," Gideon assured Sarril. "And with the past campaign to eliminate the worst of the methuselahs and clan progenitors, the familiar energy eddies will be even more distinct to those who know specifically what to look for. If he has indeed returned here, he will find that things have changed a great deal in his absence." 

Gideon smiled unpleasantly at that last, having seen just how efficient those methods had been in bringing the worst of the world's evils to bay. True enough that there were still problems, but their scale was considerably less than the titans who once roamed the shadowy recesses.

Sarril nodded, and said, "Maybe he's learned his lesson by now... or maybe being stuck in a hole for seven hundred years just made him crazier." He smirked. "Either way..."

"Either way, a matter of potential concern." Gideon nodded "Thank you for bringing it to our attention."

Sarril gave a nod. "I'll be happy to provide whatever other information may be of use."

"That file," Gideon pointed to the computer, "Should provide most of what might be useful in tracking and identifying him, as well as trends to watch for as possible signs of his presence. Kindred are, generally speaking, very predictable in their ways." Once you used basic deductive logic anyway, he amended silently, a process it had taken _forever_ to instill in the Garou.

Sarril nodded and looked at the thing oddly and said sheepishly, "I'm afraid I'm not certain how I might copy that off the computer. I just got it a few hours ago and I have no idea how it actually works yet."

"May I?" Gideon asked politely, gesturing to the machine. A Silver Fang completely comfortable with technology? Preposterous! At least that had been the general consensus when the sept had first been formed. Times had thankfully been amenable to change, slow though it might have been.

Sarril nodded and pushed it over to him. Gideon took a look at the machine, checking through the basic functionality to see what differences might be present. Glass Walkers were notorious for 'custom' laptop designs, so there wasn't a lot that would really surprise him. Checking for a means to transfer or archive the data would be the primary goal.

It claimed to be capable of adapting to and interfacing with a number of different sorts of technology. Suzcecoz probably came up with the design and forgot about it and left it in storage somewhere. Or actually used it when not in the office, which seemed to be fairly rare.

Gideon hmms thoughtfully and checked through networking options. The Glass Walkers had gleefully installed a weavernet node at his request, allowing for high speed data transmission from any computer with a wireless capability. Their own computers connected to it in a more intense, almost organic fashion, but he didn't gainsay whatever worked.

"Analyzing," the computer read. After a couple minutes, it said, "Adapting connection relays..." Sarril peered over to see what it was doing, raising an eyebrow and scratching his head.

"I'm sure the Glass Walkers would love to take a look at this," Gideon chuckled. "Just to see if how they're tracking against the Joneses." He shook his head in faint amusement at the tribe's fascination with all things shiny and innovative, but couldn't fault them for it.

"Well, I could just pick up another one if you wanna keep that one. There's a whole room full of the things back on Suzy's spaceship."

Gideon gave Sarril a look of surprise, finding an offer with no apparent strings highly unusual when dealing with one of the Kindred. It was simply how things worked, though there had been some few exceptions among them.

"If you're certain," he replied. "And I'd be remiss not to offer fair payment. The Glass Walkers, if nothing else, will be glad of the opportunity provided."

He knew better than to even _think_ he could keep their hands off it, suspecting that even now the weaver node was relaying a report of something shiny and new to them. Incorrigible was a term that suited them well.

"Oh, sure," Sarril said.

A few moments later, the computer read, "Interface successful."

Gideon transferred the applicable data to the local systems, marking it for dissemination to several different factions for potential tracking including the House of Rightful Justice of Glass Walker origin and the governmental agency that tracked supernatural affairs. If there was indeed something to be found, it would be tracked quite rapidly.

Oddly, it didn't appear that there was much information actually _on_ this computer aside from what it was using to run it. It apparently downloaded its information from a remote location.

Sarril said, "What sort of payment?"

"What would you consider reasonable?" Gideon asked in return. "You're not the first to pass this way recently from an unusual origin, and drawing a comparison I would think your local resources are limited in scope. That could be addressed in one manner or another, particularly if you were willing to engage in business dealings with the local Glass Walker population in the city."

"I would not be objected to such, no," he said. "And I'm afraid I'm likely short on local currency as well. I doubt just walking in and taking things would go over well," he said humorously, snickering softly.

"Most likely not," Gideon agreed dryly. "And you will find it easier in Kindred circles as well with funds on hand, their main Elysium can attend to your dietary requirements without the risks involved in hunting within the city... for a price, naturally." He tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the tabletop, then slid the device back toward Sarril. "I'll arrange a contact with them, and allow you to decide on the details."

"Alright, thank you," he said, smiling a bit. "From what I've heard of them thus far... I should hope them and Suzcecoz never meet..." He chuckled softly.

"They're interesting to say the least," Gideon replied, and decided not to mention the oddities inherent to a tribe that was run by Ragabash... "I will attend to the details, though I suspect that arrangements will place a meeting sometime tomorrow night as it is already quite late. I doubt," he continued dryly, "that you'll wish to meet them by the light of day."

Sarril grinned faintly and said, "No, I believe not." He shrunk down the device again and pocketed it, and said, "It was a pleasure meeting you."

"And you," Gideon replied politely as he stood. "Make use of the guest quarters if you do not wish to risk the return journey to the city before dawn. You'll find them comfortable and quite secure."

They'd been created for the small number of Kindred who were actually allowed up here, and the Garou were ever watchful for those they called friends. He nodded, then turned to go back upstairs. Sarril thanked him politely and decided to go off and see about that.

Betty approached, having overheard the last bit of the conversation as Gideon had intended when he spoke with a slightly more open tone, and grinned. "So, heading back out or taking a load off for the day?"

"The latter, I believe, if I may," he said, inclining his head politely.

"Sure thing," Betty replied cheerfully. "Though I'd better check on blondie to make sure she doesn't forget to get out of the sun too."

She smirked and went to the door, walking out into the warmth of the late night to see what the vagabonds were up to. Sarril chuckled softly, wondering where Jasmine _had_ wandered off to, and strolled along after her.

Sarril walked out to find the final stages of a warzone, at least a small-scale one, with Jasmine sitting at the edge of a concrete slab looking at the partially shredded sleeve of her blouse and a metis cub looking thoroughly miserable and contrite.

"Hey now, it's okay," she crooned and scratched its broad head. "It's only a scratch, see? No, don't lick! It'll make you sick!"

Betty had a hand over her mouth to stifle a bout of laughter, but she moved in at the moment to shoo the cub off. "Don't fret on it," she added, "I'll take care of it." She winked at Jasmine, then tied the ever-present towel that all 'tenders seemed to have neatly around the vampire's upper arm to cover the nasty-looking ragged scratches. "There we go, all better." The cub looked at it, uncertain, and tilts its head in question.

"It's _okay_ ," Jasmine reiterated with a smile. "Why don't you go in and get some ice cream? My treat." Now that was enough to dispel any hesitation in the small gathering as they make a break for the door.

Sarril chuckled quietly as he witnessed the scene, and waved lazily over in Jasmine's general direction.

Jasmine grinned at Betty and rolled her eyes. "Get them set up, would you? Can't lie about a treat." She chuckled, then hmphed as Betty explained about getting _them_ settled in. "Oh please, I know the way by now. I'm not a _total_ blonde, no matter how much you try to make everyone believe it."

That was good enough for Betty and she headed back in to see to the cubs and their late night taboo snack.

Sarril snickered softly and went off with Jasmine. "Well, that went well, I think," he said.

Anything that didn't end in people thinking he was crazy or trying to kill him was well enough as far as he was concerned. Although from how he sounded, Sarril had to wonder if Elkandu had come this way recently.

"Good!" Jasmine replied enthusiastically. "Didn't think you'd have any trouble, and when I didn't see you come flying out the door I figured everything was going fine." She chuckled, but it was more the 'remembering other times' sort of amusement than the more reassuring 'just kidding' type. "And you even got invited to stay instead of cordially told to go take up sunbathing, must have made a good impression."

She went back into the lodge and headed over to the stairs leading up. Most of the quarters were available to any shapeshifter or kin who needed them at any time, but there was a section set aside for their less savory guests.

Sarril snickered softly, following her in, and added, "Apparently, I may be meeting the Glass Walkers tomorrow night, too." He smirked at that.

"Oh, that should be fun," Jasmine grinned.

She led the way to a pair of interconnected rooms that were comfortably furnished and had, unsurprisingly, no windows as well as secure locks and other seals for the doors to cater to general Kindred paranoia. Sarril looked over the rooms briefly with approval.

"The Glass Walkers are good people, if you can deal with their fascination for anything technological and their low sense of humor," Jasmine said.

"Should prove interesting."

Jasmine made sure the doors are locked, then grinned over at him. "Don't know why I bother really, other than habit. The only dangerous things up here are the fuzzies, and if they want us dead we may as well be checking our life insurance policies since they can appear and vanish on a whim."

"They can teleport?" Sarril asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, no." Jasmine shook her head. "That's only in the movies, though sometimes I wonder what the GWs are up to..." She smirked. "Anyway, they call it 'stepping sideways', and apparently takes them to the spirit world or something, it runs side by side with this world. I've seen some of it with Auspex, but never actually been there myself."

"Oh, Dreamwalking," he said. "Or a reasonable equivalent thereof."

"Hummm, probably." Jasmine looked thoughtful. "At least probably, since using Auspex allows you to leave your body and take a look around there, and you can see a lot of things that people have just considered dreams since forever."

"That sounds like dreamwalking also," Sarril said. "Dreamwalkers can either enter the Ethereal Plane physically, or just spiritually. Though it technically doesn't necessarily have to do with dreams..."

"Okay, that's weird," Jasmine said. "The fuzzies can do it physically, and someone with a high enough gen can do it mentally, yet you make it sound like it's the same thing. Why's that?"

Sarril shrugged helplessly. "You'd have to ask an Elkandu Dreamwalker that. I really don't know."

"Hmm, I'll have to do that." Jasmine nodded, wondering at the odd comparison between the two things that the two separate factions considered to be completely different things. "Well anyway, I call dibs on the shower since the sun's coming soon. I have to look terrible after the rough and tumble with the kids." She grinned. "I'll be sure to leave at least a little hot water."

Sarril nodded, and quietly went to take a seat somewhere and poke at the funny machine a bit more in the meanwhile. She looked at him for a second, smirked and shook her head, and went to brush her fangs and take a shower.

Too much Toreador lately, Jasmine muttered and grumbled at herself, continuing on a silent rambling self-lecture as she went through the day-end ritual, and even managed to mostly stomp on herself by the time it was done. She emerged a while later, coiled in a couple towels, and motioned to the bathroom with a smirk. "All yours."

Sarril looked up from what he was doing and nodded to her and headed in, leaving the computer behind. He had apparently meanwhile brought up an article on dreamwalking, which was currently displaying on the screen.

Well at least that was one opportunity Jasmine wasn't likely to bypass, and curled up in a chair to do a bit of reading on the subject. Very odd indeed that there were elements that the fuzzies and the Kindred took for granted, yet didn't draw any comparison between... really made her wonder what other things they might be overlooking, and whether it would be wise to delve deeper into it.

She was realist enough to recognize the potential dangers involved. The balance that existed between the supernaturals was a fragile thing, overall, and mostly hammered together through the expedient of one seriously bull-headed Garou. Throwing something else into the mix... she chewed absently on her lip and continued onward.

Sarril returned shortly, somewhat cleaner, and stretched a bit thoughtfully.

Jasmine looked up from her reading and smiles a bit, then set the device aside and uncurled. "Well, should probably get some rest, long night ahead of you if you're going to be dealing with the GWs." She tucked the corner of the towel a bit more securely and stood, then collected her clothes. "I'll give you a ride, if you like."

"Certainly," he said, "It would be appreciated." He smiled a bit and said, "Sleep well." He went to get some rest himself.

Jasmine padded off to the adjoining room and collapsed with the rising of the sun into the near comatose slumber of the Kindred, though her mind freed itself of its shell a moment before and spent the daylight hours walking the sometimes surreal but always peaceful Umbrascape of the caern.


	5. Glass Walkers

The day passed without event or disturbance, no cleaning lady coming through with a vacuum or irate Garou showing up with a stake and BBQ sauce.

Sarril slept peacefully and gratefully, although even knowing that the days were shorter than those of Lezaria, he was still a little surprised when he woke somewhat sooner than expected, fumbling for his pocket watch for a moment before realizing that it was displaying Lezarian time before remembering he wasn't on Lezaria.

"Oh, right," he mumbled.

Jasmine awakened with the setting of the sun, alertness returning with the odd clarity that it always had since she'd gotten used to the strange physical/mental connection to the night. She stretched, muttered something to herself, then got dressed in the somewhat rumpled outfit of the day before. Definitely something to be remedied before returning to the office, she mused, otherwise someone would get the wrong idea.

She smirked at that, muttered again, and headed through the connecting bathroom to knock lightly on the door leading to Sarril's room. "You up and ready to go?" she called out.

"I'm up, I'm up," he mumbled, going over to the door and opening it chuckling softly. He showed her the watch. "It's the middle of the afternoon on Lezaria. Heh."

"You get used to it." Jasmine grinned as she walked in. "It's funny how quickly you can adapt to the rhythm of dropping off and waking up with the sun's passing." She shrugged. "So, you ready to head back into town and see what the GWs have to say? I'm sure Mr. Morrison has things set up by now."

"Certainly," he said, smiling and going over to collect the computer again.

"Then let's roll!" Jasmine responded, then grinned as she headed for the door. "Not as relevant as it used to be when the cars were wheeled monsters, but it still kinda works."

She undid the series of locks and headed out into the hall, leading the way back downstairs to check in with whoever might be keeping tabs on things tonight since they'd be sure to have the info for Sarril.

Sarril pocketed the device again and headed out down after her casually, humming a bit to himself as he went.

Betty was working the counter again, and after setting out a couple orders for some of the local shapeshifters she greeted them cheerfully and passed along the info that Gideon had left. A meeting had indeed been arranged, and the timeframe had been set to cover a few hours to allow for travel time and incidental delays.

Jasmine made a few goodbyes and promises to come back up again soon, then went back out of the lodge. Her little roadster was waiting among the other cars as it was the night before, and she settled into it for the return trip. Sarril thanked Betty politely and went out with Jasmine and hopped in the car and buckled up.

"So I'm going to presume these Glass Walkers are sort of like Suzcecoz, except in multiples." He thought for a moment. "Suddenly I'm terrified." He snickered. "Let's go."

"Suzy-whatzis?" Jasmine asked, the car thrumming to life and coasting back out to the road, then picking up speed with the return to more solid ground beneath it.

"Suzcecoz Ilawi," he said. "Suzy for short. She's the sort of person who will build a spaceship from scratch and then forget about it a week later."

"Ohhhh." Jasmine chuckled. "Well, not all of them, and they'd certainly never _forget_ about anything they created. For the most part the tribe's just keen on technology and the things it can do for them while they go about doing the usual things the fuzzies do in the cities. They're no worse than your average wirehead, other than going all ten foot tall, dark, and deadly."

Sarril snickered softly. "Suzy's an odd one, alright. Hardly ever see her when she's not tinkering on some damned thing or another. But at least, unlike the gnomes, what she makes generally works... far better than you'd expect it to. She calls herself a technomancer, though, and I don't doubt she puts more than a little magic into her contraptions."

"Oh pretty much anything the GWs do on the tech side includes a bit of that," Jasmine replied. "I remember this laptop they gave my brother, I swear the thing was going to _bite_ me for trying to play a prank on him through it!"

He chuckled. "I don't know half of what she does most of the time, though, I generally just left her be. Though she probably has some embarrassing details about me in that database of hers." He frowned for a moment.

Jasmine smirked. "Be careful what you say or do around the GWs. They're good people but they _never_ forget about anything and have the lowest sense of humor imaginable. You don't want to know some of the things they've tossed up on the 'net."

Sarril pulled out the computer again and looks up to see what information it had on him. He sighed softly and groaned as he read it.

"That good, huh?" Jasmine asked with a quirked grin. "Hey, it can always be worse, at least it's not something that's scared up mobs of torch-wielding peasants to hunt you down."

"No, worse, it mentions who my sire's sire is," he muttered.

Jasmine made a face. "Family skeletons are always fun. My grandsire isn't exactly a peach either, though at least she isn't trying to kill us anymore."

Largely because she'd been tied down and forcefully treated by a Salubri to remove some torture-induced insanities, but that still didn't do much for the reputation side of things.

"Worse because it's the same guy that I've been warning people about," he muttered.

"Hey, no reason to be so glum, chum." Jasmine smiled. "If your putting the warning out and trying to keep him buried isn't good enough to make people happy, then they're gonna hate you regardless, for being a vampire or something equally trivial."

"I'd hope so, logically," Sarril said, sighing a bit. "I've done my damnedest to not end up like him, no matter what it took."

"Pfft, please," Jasmine retorted. "You may be eccentric, but you don't exactly strike me as some raving psychotic intent on world domination or anything. If you are." She glanced over with a smirk. "I can drop you off at the next bus stop."

"Why would I want to rule the world?" Sarril said. "I already ended up technically ruling Lezaria by default, but I handed it over to Streyka because politics bore me to tears."

"See? You're smart to boot." Jasmine chuckled lightly. "But yeah, opinion and prestige do mean something among the Kindred, and it can get really ugly and dangerous if it gets bad enough. I don't think you have anything to worry about on that end, though."

"I'd rather not have any association with that monster," Sarril muttered. "But no help for it, I suppose. He turned my mother into a vampire just to piss off my father..."

"Same old story, same old song and dance," Jasmine said quietly and shook her head. "Great thing about being a free Kindred, the sins of the sire can be held at bay if you acquire enough clout to keep em there. Seriously now, don't worry so much about it! I'm sure things will work out fine and no one will even think twice about it down the road."

"Well, I'd hope so," Sarril said. "After what Falk told me about what happened to those 'Lasombra', I'd hate to get mistaken for one."

"Well just remember, only the Prince has the right to put the foot down," Jasmine said. "Anyone else is just looking to add their own marker next to yours if they kill you. Small consolation though that might be." She chuckled and glanced over. "Even crazy Kindred get that protection."

"Well, at least she's seen quite clearly that I've got a reflection at least," Sarril said "Which, believe it or not, up until a few weeks ago, I never did."

"What!??" Jasmine exclaimed. "Waitasec, do you or don't you?" She was suddenly feeling just a tad uneasy about being here with a Lasombra...

Sarril smirked and sighed softly. "Yes, I do now. You can imagine it makes it a lot easier to do my hair."

Jasmine flushed faintly, realizing how that must have sounded. "Look, I'm sorry, and there I was just saying there wasn't anything to worry about..." She sighed. "I guess I didn't really think of just what being related by blood to the Lasombra means, on an instinctive level to us."

"Before I met Falk, I hadn't realized that there were any vampires who didn't lack a reflection," he said. "All the vampires on Lezaria were descended from Vadrak. So I went back to Tinemocun and me and Streyka looked into things a bit, and we managed to change that."

"That's good at least," Jasmine replied absently, still poking at the idea, then went on, "To be honest, though, I'd keep as quiet about your relations as possible, there's plenty enough Kindred out there with scores to settle with that clan or just plain hatred that it _would_ be dangerous for you. Claim caitiff or something."

Sarril shrugged. "Well, you're the only one here, other than Falk, that knows about it. Though I suppose Caitiff isn't too far from the truth considering Vadrak was sealed away and my mother ran off and left me to fend for myself," he grumbled. "Back on Lezaria, we call ourselves 'Dragonblood', though. Though if you want to get strictly technical, that term refers to more than just vampires."

"Well I'm not going to be telling anyone." Jasmine grinned a little. "And Falk tended to talk to Kindred in monosyllables if he talked to them at all, so I think you're pretty safe in that regard. Bloodlines and Caitiff get treated the same as any other here, and we've seen more than our share of both because of it."

"It's a good deal more prestigious to be considered related to the Children of the Dragon's Blood, at least on Lezaria, that's for sure. The Chelseers are descended from the Seers, who were in ancient times the rulers of Kedresida. But these days they and their descendants, the Shadowhands, are among the most prominent and powerful family of mages."

Jasmine chuckled, "Afraid none of that means anything to me, and considering I'm up and current on Kindred politics I think it's safe to say that it won't mean anything to anyone else here, either."

"Yeah, I imagine Elkandu relations won't mean much to anyone here," he said with a smirk.

"And the ones here won't mean much to you either," Jasmine replied. "And if you hang out more with the GWs than the Kindred you can get along just fine that way." She smirked. "At least you'd get the chance to avoid the Elysium sharkettes that way."

"What's a 'sharkette' anyway?" Sarril wondered.

"Umm," Jasmine paid deliberate attention to the road as they neared the city. "It's a descriptive term for Kindred of either gender who hang out in Elysium and do nothing but gossip endlessly (which _all_ of them do), play nasty little games (Ditto!), and hit on anything that moves and is pretty enough to draw their attention. Though, more specifically, that applies to Toreador, the person who came up with it doesn't like them much."

Sarril blinked for a moment. "I... see. Are there are a lot of these?"

"Most of my clan," Jasmine muttered darkly. "Spend all their time hanging out talking about the latest idiotic art fad, or circling the tank looking to gather funding for their newest project like the 'Save the Seahorse' foundation. And don't _even_ get me started on the horrible socials they throw!"

"That seems... very strange to me. Perhaps it's just as well there were never any of these on Lezaria..." he mused.

"Just don't hold it against me," Jasmine smirked, "Or forget the warning when you hang out in Elysium and some bobble-headed twit, female or male, decides to latch onto you."

"I won't if you don't," he said with a grin.

"Hey, you're not a Malk," Jasmine grins, "That's a step in the right direction right there."

Smart, good sense of humor, not a Malk... okay, so there was the Lasombra connection, no one's perfect! The car eased its way through the city streets with her paying very little conscious attention to the route, it was so familiar after the time she'd spent here that anything more wasn't really necessary. Sarril was perfectly at ease, trusting that she knows where she's going and that the vehicle isn't going to burst into flames.

"I can manipulate shadows," he said. "Though technically I'm an Illusionist, so it's not really limited to that. I can make... images... lights... turn invisible..."

"So..." Jasmine hmmed. "Something more like Chimerstry, or to a lesser extent Obfuscation." She smirked. "Not that I'd be in any rush to claim being a Ravnos either, they tend to get run out of town before they can swipe everything that is or isn't bolted down."

"Streyka, on the other hand, is a Speaker. She can tell people to do things, and they just do them. Ask people questions, and they answer truthfully. Hell, she could tell someone the sky is plaid, and they'd believe her..."

"Heh, remind me to make sure to never let her and my grandsire compare notes," Jasmine said. "The ability to use Dom just through the voice is pretty damned creepy."

"She can't turn it off, either," he said. "She ends up having to word everything neutrally just to talk to people normally. And most people don't even realize she's doing it."

"She can't turn it off?" Jasmine looked at him briefly. "Why not?"

"I don't know," he said. "She can, however, consciously emphasize certain things to put more force into them, but everything she says has at least some level of Speech whether she wants it to or not. What's more, Speech Magic works even on Elkandu who would normally be protected against Mind Magic and the like. Which is probably why Speakers these days of any notable power get killed the minute they're born..."

"Well maybe I _should_ invite my grandsire out that way then," Jasmine smirked. She double-checked the address they were given and nodded as she made a final turn and cruised alongside a skyscraper.

He snickered softly. "Yeah, there's only two of them that they've allowed to live, and that's Streyka and Sheniro, and I don't think anyone realizes the full extent of either's powers. Plus they're pretty sure neither of them is Aitur. Hmm, wait, you'd not know who Aitur is... Okay, do you know who Hitler was? Did this world have one?"

"Oh yeah," Jasmine snorted. "Real sweet guy, had some serious backing from some of the clans up until the war started getting ugly enough to make them rethink the wisdom of having their havens in cities being bombed." She rolled her eyes and pulled into the tunnel leading to the building's underground parking.

"Yeah, well, Aitur was effectively Hitler's rebirth, so far as anyone knows," he said. "And he was a powerful Speaker. But a lot less subtle about it than Streyka. At least when Aitur told you to do something you normally weren't inclined to do, you _realized_ something was up. So, then, people started killing him, repeatedly, and he turned out to be very stubborn and managed to come back from the death more times than any living being ought to. Crazy situation... They think they've got him gone for good this time at least."

Jasmine smirked. "Yeah, just what the world needs, more psychos that refuse to stay dead. Can you believe someone embraced Jeffrey Dahmer? He got caught up in the Unification Wars, of course, but still."

She cruised the aisles, looking for a decent spot close in, not that difficult as most of the people were gone for the day, but wasn't in any rush. Maybe she'd look with one that has just the right 'ambience'...

"There were a couple people who were immune to Speech, for no explicable reason, though," he said. "Angelita at least made sense, as she's the most powerful of the Elkandu Mind Mages. But some of them, oddly, didn't have any Mind at all..."

"Y'know, I could make a commentary on it being impossible to affect those without any mind, but I'll refrain." Jasmine grinned, then pulled into a parking spot near the elevator. "And it looks like we're here in plenty of time for your appointment."

"Mind Magic, that is. Not without a mind," he said, smirking, and went to climb out.

Jasmine leaned over to dig in the glove compartment, dragged out a scrap of paper and scribbles on it, then leaned out to offer it to him. "Hey, give me a call sometime," she said, "If you need a lift, want to hit a movie, whatever."

He took it and said, "Ah, sure. Take care, you hear?" He pocketed it and gave a wave, and heads for the elevator.

The car drove off as the elevator doors opened and Sarril walked in. The note he'd been given had directed him to the thirty-fourth floor, one shy of the key-locked top floor, and the lift hummed quietly into motion. Sarril hummed quietly to himself as the lift rose, strangely at ease and invigorated for all these strange new surroundings.

The doors opened shortly after, revealing a broad, tastefully decorated reception room, trees growing from holes cut in the floor to either side. Three suits stood guard while a fourth lounged at the desk, and it took a moment to actually realize that they were four different people beneath the blatant Mafia-esque uniforms.

Sarril stepped out of the elevator and glances about, looking briefly over the people present and heading over to the desk. "Greetings," he said. "I believe I have an appointment? My name is Sarril Farmer."

The suit at the desk tapped at a laptop and looked over at one of the other wise guys. "Yo, Defrag, System-Crash, escort Mr. Farmer here to 33." He looked back to Sarril as the two suits moved briskly up to either side. "Follow the boys here, the Boss should be along shortly."

"Thank you," Sarril said, going to follow them.

They led him through a bewildering maze of passages, and Sarril could sense a subtle and powerful bit of magic at work that had something to do with at least this floor being much bigger than the building would allow. Coming to an unmarked door, one of the suits opened it and gestured into the functional conference room. A long table and the chairs to go with it occupied most of the space, recessed terminals at each of he stations.

Sarril wasn't kept waiting long as two people walk through one of the nearby walls at the head of the table. One was a fairly short man in a suit reminiscent of the others, if of even better quality, and it contrasted starkly with the chrome reflections of his skin. The other was a thin, elderly black man in a lab coat with a lively, energetic demeanor.

"So you're the one the Big Silver Fluffy sent us, eh?" Sixshooter said as he took a seat. "Take a load off and let's talk business."

Sarril wasn't particularly disturbed at the apparent violation of the laws of physics around here. The Elkandu tended to do far more blatant things. Sarril politely introduced himself probably unnecessarily and took a seat.

Gadget didn't sit down, he was just here at the Boss's request and would much rather be back at his own work, including examining the interesting genetic sample he'd recently acquired. Sixshooter had changed a bit over the years and wasn't nearly as flighty as he once was, but he was still far from staid.

"So, what is it that brings you to us?" Sixshooter asked. "It's not often I get a note from On High to cut a deal, in no uncertain terms."

Sarril pulled the little device out of his pocket, it shrunk down to look like a cell phone at the moment. "This little gadget I believe. It's a... uh..." he held it up to read the label on the side. "Multi-purpose interdimensional communications uplink. Whatever that means."

Sixshooter motioned Gadget forward, not that he really needed to after hearing the label for the device which was enough to draw his interest. The man came forward to take the thing and begins examining it.

"Yeah, I'm sure it's fascinating," Six replied dryly. "And I can see why he thought we'd be interested in it, but there was obviously more to it than just a 'pay the leech off and dump him' to it." He leaned back in the chair and tossed his feet up on the desk with a muted clank, crossing the ankles. "So what's the story? Why are you suddenly such a hot prospect for the talent pool?"

Sarril expanded the device into its laptop form and offered it up to the guy to examine it. He said, "What do you mean?" Apparently, he'd left the computer open to a display of the Ethereal Plane and a description of the Interdimensional Bridge last night.

Gadget took the device and began a thorough examination, utilizing a series of implanted instruments to probe deeper into the thing. There were definitely new elements there, even though they might be considered expansions of some current projects, and quite a bit of it was already familiar from his own lab even if it hadn't been put into mass release as of yet.

Sixshooter steepled his fingers, looking at Sarril blankly. "See, technically I'm the top dog for anything the tribe does in this city, and I got plenty of rank to swing a lot of shit elsewhere, but when the fecal material hits the blades it's the furball on the hill who calls the shots. So I'm wondering why he dropped a line that I should think about hiring you on, real polite like."

"Oh, I didn't build that thing, I don't even know how it works. Suzcecoz did. I just found it stored away up on her spaceship... the one up in orbit over the planet Lezaria..."

Great, he thought, pretty inevitable they were all going to know he was from another planet now. Oh well, not like they couldn't figure that out from the computer anyway.

Sixshooter rubbed his chin and looked at the inventor. "What's the eval, Gadget?" he asked.

The other thought about it a second, hmming. "Five hundred, even. Research potential is acceptable on the hardware, and comparing software should prove interesting, including the ethereal link built in."

Sixshooter nodded and looked back at Sarril. "Five hundred Gs sound good to you?"

"What's a G?" Sarril said, raising an eyebrow in puzzlement and wondering if that was their form of local currency.

"O' Mighty Dolla would kick your ass for that," Sixshooter replied jokingly, dropping his feet from the table and leaning forward. "Now I can see what Morrison wanted it for, but damned if I know _why_." He stood and threw his hands up. "Mine is not to question why. Okay, G is old slang for a thousand, so we're talking five hundred thousand dollars, cold cash, for your little toy. Gadget likes it. Anything beyond that, we'll have to talk."

"Oh," Sarril said, and thought for a moment. "Is that a lot?"

Sixshooter chuckled. "You could live damn near any way you wanted to for a year on that, or a bit lower-class for maybe ten. Yeah, it's a good chunk of change."

"Oh, I see," Sarril said, feeling a bit silly. "Sorry, Torn Elkandu's got a very out-of-whack economy, or lack thereof, and Lezaria uses mainly gold and silver coins... Oh, I suppose it could bring up a currency conversion chart, though..."

"Gold and silver are valuable here," Sixshooter said. "But unless you want to run yourself out of a market you have to be damned careful about it, and any sort of major transaction gets bank regulators and the feds on your ass so quick you _better_ have a rock-solid paper trail for it. Not to mention a legal identity and all that fun crap, which is part of the package if you decide to take a consultancy gig."

"It sounds a very strange system," he said. "Er, what do you mean by 'consultancy gig'?"

"Gadget's been transferring over snippets of data he's sorting through," Sixshooter replied. "Some of it's interesting indeed, but even beyond that we can always use a wandering eye and advocate among the leeches in the city. So basically you get paid to answer the occasional question, if needed, and otherwise to toss a word our way if anything of interest should come up in the shadows of town. Commission extra in that case."

Sarril seemed puzzled and didn't really understand.

Sixshooter sighed. "It's simple. We're gonna be going over the crap we can pull out of your little toy, if something comes up that we can't process then we'll ask. Outside that, you keep an eye on the normal things that leeches do. Anything you think we might be interested in, you bring to us and get a nice little bonus. Maybe something more will pop up as I get a feel for what you do, but that's it for now."

"Er, sure, okay, right," Sarril said. "Though I'm not sure what you might ask about it that I'd know. Well, unless that were involving any information about the Elkandu Universe itself, I suppose..."

"Got it in one," Sixshooter replied, rubbing his hands together. "Never hurts to keep an eye out for new markets, neh?"

"Now, is there anyone else I have to tell that I'm from another planet? I've already got enough people thinking that I'm a Malkavian."

Sixshooter laughed. "May want to keep that to yourself. Garou might be cool with the idea, but the leeches are a little on the deadhead side in a lot of ways. Can't exactly do much if you suddenly find yourself locked in a rubber room someplace, right?"

"That's what I've figured," Sarril said, smirking. "I'm finding it hard to believe that there's an entire clan of crazy vampires, myself..."

"You and me both," Sixshooter snorted. "But at least they kill the really batshit ones these days, rather than having em running around scaring the tourists. Anyway." He waved it off. "So, you're new in town and need some ID, we can set that up with no sweat from birth to school, yada yada. Prefer to be a registered vamp or pretend you're still breathin'?"

"But... I've been dead for seven hundred years... Wouldn't that be lying?"

Sixshooter just looked at Sarril, the reason for Morrison sending the guy his way smacking him in the face. He shook his head. "Well yeah, but then it's not exactly straight by the books to concoct a life story out of the blue either. Sometimes you just have to tweak the system a bit to get the right results to keep your ass out of the fire, capisce?"

"Well, I meant that too... But I suppose," Sarril said. "I never really thought about it before. People don't tend to notice me if I don't want them to, anyway."

"Seen that before." Sixshooter shook his head. "That only goes so far, and it's damned inconvenient to get caught pants-down, dick swinging when you just _think_ you're the invisible man. Besides, anything requires an identity, from getting a driver's license to renting a damned movie. It gets ridiculous sometimes, but hey, that's how the system works."

Sarril made a strange expression at his interesting metaphors. "It's a strange system, yes, but as you say. Very well."

"Okay, good call," Sixshooter nodded. "So, air-sucker or wormfood? Ads and disads either way, though with your honesty schtick it'd probably work best to register as vamp. Bit less groundwork that way, too."

"Er, sure, okay," he said.

"So what're you doing for crashspace and transport?" Sixshooter asked. "Working hand in claw with the GWs tends to come with some decent fringe benefits. We keep an eye on out for our friends."

All the slang was making Sarril's head spin a bit. "I don't know yet," he said. "Although if push comes to shove I can generally just Recall to the Nexus of Torn Elkandu. It's generally pretty safe there. I haven't yet noticed too much use of wards that would prevent teleportation."

"Mmm," Sixshooter mused. "Wouldn't try it here or at a caern, never know what some of the high-octane spirits might do with someone passing through their turf. Most of the city shouldn't be any problem, though. Seems like having a place to crash in case of inclination or emergency would seem to be a good idea, but hey, up to you."

"It would be preferable," he said. "Torn Elkandu, while fairly safe, is not particularly... quiet, and hence getting any sleep would be impossible even if I actually got tired there. The problem is, there is a heavy metal band that's taken up residence there again who _also_ never gets tired."

Sixshooter ughed. "Stay away from Keytar then, though I've managed to strand his ass out at the Sept of Dreams for the most part. Anyway, hmmm, let's see... That's easily arranged, ID in twenty-four hours tops, what else? ... Ah right! You drive?"

"Not yet, but I could learn..." Sarril said with a faint smirk.

"Okay, tack a car to that." Sixshooter nodded thoughtfully. "Should be about what you need, though some incidentals on the way." He waved that off too. "As it comes along, the boys can handle the occasional request without me holding their hands. Enough cash to keep yourself in some style, and you're set." He really was an energetic sort when he gets on a roll.

"Okay," Sarril said agreeably, thinking for a moment.

Sixshooter looked over at Gadget and said calmly, "You're drooling. Yeah, yeah, don't glare at me, go back to your den of torture and mad science already... oh yeah, thanks." The man just chuckled and headed back out the way he'd come, and Six hopped to sit on the edge of the table. "So, anything else that leaps to mind?"

"Do multi-phasic buffered selective wards work properly in this universe?" Sarril asked.

Sixshooter didn't miss a beat, parsing the component parts easily. "They do now. Power lines used to be pretty much shut down until the Awakening, but with them opened up a bit there's a lot of things working without a hitch now."

"Ah, excellent," he said. He may not be all that up to speed on the technology side of things, but when it came to magic, by whatever name, well, hanging out in Torn Elkandu did have its advantages.

Glass Walkers would have a lot of common ground with Suzcecoz, thankfully for Sarril's peace of mind it'd probably be a few years at least until Gadget got around to actually heading out that way.

"You'll find a few fields through this building, requiring specific access to pass," Sixshooter explained. "One of Gadget's toys that we've put to good use."

Sarril nodded. "The Elkandu tend to put them to quite good use. But they also, well, tend to ward up their bedrooms tight so that people aren't suddenly appearing next to them and trying to kill them while they sleep."

"Nah, I encourage people to come in and try that shit," Sixshooter replied. "Then they get to see all the really nifty things that they passed right by on the way in. Nasty pointy and shooty things. It's great, I get at least one or two a year, and with a zero percent return rate there's always some asshole lining up for the next try." He chuckled.

Sarril chuckled softly, and thought some more. "Hmm, if I'm not going to be hanging around in Torn Elkandu all the time, I suppose I'd best subscribe to the Daily Seeker, too..."

"So, any other burning questions on your mind?" Sixshooter asked.

"Not at the moment, I believe, no," he said.

"Alright," Sixshooter said briskly. "Drop by tomorrow night and I'll have all the documentation you'd ever need set up for you, along with a bank account for ready cash, and some keys for a place to crash and a car not to crash." He chuckled. "Got the day covered til then, or need some safe space? There's some room around here if ya need it."

"I'm realizing that I'm apparently terrible so far as actually planning ahead," Sarril said with a smirk. "No, I don't have anything particularly planned."

"Hey, no sweat," Sixshooter replied, producing a card with a flourish. "Always pays to have friends, even if they're new ones, eh? This'll get you through the doors down at ground level, then just drop it into a terminal in the lobby to get directions. No sense locking yourself in for the night, right?" He held the card out to Sarril.

Sarril took it and said, "Thank you." He inclined his head toward him politely.

One of the suits that had escorted Sarril in opened the door at an unheard signal, and Sixshooter nodded in his direction. "The boys'll show you the way back to the elevator, you should be good to go from there." He tapped the brim of an imaginary hat, then sauntered back the way he'd entered.

Sarril nodded to the fellow and went to follow him back that way. He was sure Streyka would prefer him to be staying in Tinemocun, but meh, it was a great place to visit, but far too heavy of a political aura there to be very comfortable. He thought of all the things he was going to need to get set up here briefly, realizing he didn't even know half of it.

They led him back to the entry and return to their positions nearby, the suit at the desk offered a brief nod. "Have a good night."

He thanked them politely and headed back down, still musing to himself quietly.

The elevator would deposit Sarril on any level he wished, though presuming a return to ground level he found himself faced with a blank hallway with the lobby just beyond out of immediate sight. There was a guard at the enclosed desk there, but he didn't draw any more than a brief inspection.

Sarril proceeded to see about following the directions he was given to see about acquiring some accommodations. He did not particularly care to spend another day cycle listening to Pyroluminescence. Sure, it was great while they were broken up... but then they came back with a vengeance, and brand new amps.

Easy enough to track down, sliding the card into a terminal near the entry brought a map up with simple directions, including the location of other terminals along the way to refresh memory. Sarril didn't have any difficulty locating the place, even though it was 'hard to see' and would probably be invisible to the average passerby. Nicely furnished interior rooms, and with quite secure doors. Sarril went to head that way to check it out.


	6. A Bloody Date

Time passed. Sarril got settled in to his new place, picked up a replacement computer from the Eyes of Truth, and started to get used to the idea of hanging around here for the time being, including starting to learn to drive. He made sure that his place was protected by the latest measures developed by the Elkandu Warders, but aside from that he was none too picky.

Then, about a week or two after, he called up Jasmine to see about arranging a date for that tour he promised.

Jasmine was a bit surprised to hear from him, but covered it well as she accepted with only one question to clarify, "Casual or formal?" Never could tell what dress codes other places had.

"Casual," he replied with a bit of a grin, then went to wait for her to arrive, looking over some nice places on the Eyes database he thought he might like to show her.

Casual meant different things to different people, and Jasmine grinned as she picked out an outfit for the tour. Functional and appealing all in one, not to mention having places for all the important things a girl could need. She was headed out to meet him in record time, looking like some refugee from the Matrix in all the leather.

Sarril grinned a bit when he saw her. "Hey there. Are you ready to head off?"

"I could go cliche and say 'I was born ready', but I'm not _that_ far gone," Jasmine grinned. "And sure thing, even packed all the possible necessities. Brass knuckles, strangling cord, paired stilettos... y'know, all the little things."

Sarril chuckled, and said, "Then off we go."

He Recalled back to the Nexus. Jasmine followed cheerfully after, taking things a bit more in stride this time as she drew a pair of sunglasses out of her patented trench coat pocket, unfolded them, and put them on to look up at the strange sky of Torn Elkandu.

"To borrow a phrase..." Jasmine said, "Whoa."

Sarril chuckled softly, and looked over to a chart displayed on a wall near the Nexus. It was labeled "Interplanetary Timezone Chart", and displayed the current time for major cities on several planets. Most of them displayed little sun icons sometimes with a moon or three. Mezulbryst, notably, displayed only four moons, but the entire band was black, and Daresa just displayed a little blue star, but was also black.

"Let's see, where shall we go..." Sarril said.

Jasmine took a look at the chart curiously. "Now that's handy," she said, "And brings to mind the suggestion that it be someplace where it's not currently the middle of the day." She smirked. "Otherwise, I'm flexible."

Sarril looked to the chart and said, "Hmm. The sun just set in Kelletirandia..." he indicates the line marked with that, on the bar for Wilderplane. "So how's Wilderplane sound?"

"What's Wilderplane like?" Jasmine asked, then rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, I'm a great tourist, aren't I? Come on, let's go take a look."

Sarril chuckled, and headed over to activate the Nexus to send them there. Somewhat incongruously, when they arrived, it was in a square in the midst of a vast, sprawling city. The place appeared to be populated by many races, elves, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and such. In the center of the square, the Spire towered into the starlit skies above.

"It's nice to see a city without a roof," Jasmine remarked approvingly, remembering when Selenis _used_ to be just the one level with a bit of nostalgia, "Looks a lot quieter too. Which," she grinned over at him, "as a tourist is completely unacceptable. Lead on, oh wise and worldly guide."

Sarril chuckled, and headed toward the towering building in the center of the square. "Can't come to Kelletirandia without climbing the Spire. It's got a great view."

Jasmine looked up at it as they got closer. "Oh, I think I like that idea already, I just assumed it was a government building or something and wouldn't be looking for guests."

She wasn't in any great hurry and let him set the pace, enjoying the utterly different world.

"Heh, well, a few people have tried to rule from there, like that one idiot who tried to mind-control a dragon, but these days it's primarily just a tourist attraction." He headed inside and crossed over to the old elevator to head up. "The Spire is the tallest building on this planet..."

"What, no stairs?" Jasmine grinned. "Oh I suppose, this does look tall enough that it'd take a while to climb."

She snickered inwardly at the idea of trying to Dom a dragon, she'd seen someone who did that once. Once. At least what was left of the stupid SOB.

The elevator rode smoothly up, and deposited them on the top floor, where Sarril headed out to the wide balcony at the top of the tower. The massive city could be seen sprawling out below them, with trees and mountains beyond. In the sky, a nearly-full golden moon hung, and a smaller lavender crescent.

Jasmine walked slowly out onto the balcony, hands clasped behind her, and let the scene unfold by degrees around her. Her step was slow and precise, only the ripple of the wind through the folds of her coat giving any sound to her presence.

"Mmm," she murmured at last and rests her hands on the railing as she looked outward. "No, not even going to compare it to the last one."

Sarril grinned broadly, leaning against the railing. The place isn't completely unoccupied tonight, there being a woman with pointy ears, silver hair, and pitch black skin standing in an out of the way corner.

Company wasn't necessarily something Jasmine was ignoring, too many years of caution for that, but she let it sit at the edge of her awareness as long as there was nothing to draw her attention to it.

"How old is this place?" she asked, looking over at Sarril.

"I'm not really sure," he said. "I know that the Spire was the home of Keolah Kedaire for a while, while she was living here. That was around four hundred years ago. But I imagine it was around a good while before then."

"All that time and none of the problems from back home..." Jasmine shook her head lightly and leaned further out to get even a few more inches of the view. "I guess there's something to be said for magic over technology." The same could be said in reverse, but darnit the night was _very_ nice here!

"Oh, I never said that they never had any problems," he said with a grin. "It was from this very spot that the drow were cursed, so that they would be unable to tolerate sunlight, and that their females could only bear one child. At least the latter part of that was since reversed..."

Jasmine smirked, glancing back at him. "What's so bad about that? Oh, I made sure to catch a final sunrise and sunset, and totally glutted on some of my favorite foods before my embrace, but I don't miss it. The night's a good place to be... and kids?" She made a face. "I remember what a pain my brother and I were, I sure as hell wouldn't wish that on myself!"

Sarril chuckled softly. "Well, if you see a lot of people with black skin and light hair while we're here, you'll know why." He stretched a bit. "And back there, that's the corner where Corvus Corax, the wild elf telepath, slept when he tried to rule Wilderplane. By mind controlling a dragon. Of course, he ended up with a demonsteel talisman that slowly and painfully transformed him into a raven demon..."

"Someone must have been feeling particularly tricksy," Jasmine chuckled. "Either that or a bit annoyed at the idea. Generally not a good idea to force your will on someone or something that just might turn around and bite you. That's what makes blood bonds so dangerous."

She shook her head in amusement at the people who used them and find out they weren't absolute as might be thought. And then there were the ones who willingly entered into them, but that brought up memories of her sire and being totally grossed out at the idea so she cut that train of thought off short. Yick. You just didn't want to think about your parents... and... just ew.

Sarril pointed off toward the northwest. "And off in that forest there's a village inhabited by fae, called City in the Trees. That was where Suzcecoz Ilawi was born in her first life. But then they exiled her for being a fire mage, and she got possessed by a demon and came back and slaughtered a lot of them."

Jasmine looked off in that direction dutifully, then blinked as the oddity of what he'd said sank in and she turned the mirrored gaze in his direction, "First life? Demon? Whaaaa?"

"Oh, the Elkandu have this weird rebirth gig going on," Sarril said. "That's why it's so hard to keep the people you really want dead to stay that way. They die, they get reborn, and they've got methods to remember their past lives."

"Egh, what a pain," Jasmine replied, curling her lip in distaste. "What's the point of killing someone then? Sheesh. I'd wonder if that worked with diablerie, since that apparently takes something of the soul too, but..." she grins at him, "I don't know any Kindred over here that would volunteer for the experiment."

"That's why they invented things like soultraps and soulfire, and other methods like thoroughly mindfucking them before killing them." He turned from the balcony back toward the elevator. "Here, let me show you something else. Not many people know about this one..." He pressed a button near the elevator, and it slid down one floor... but also opened revealing a passageway behind the elevator.

Jasmine followed along, naturally, and watched curiously as the hidden way was revealed. She looked over at him and asks, "Where does it go?"

"This was the apartment where Keolah used to live," he said, heading inside.

In the room that they came to, there was a crystal orb in the center which lit up as they approached, revealing a room full of shelves upon shelves of knickknacks, many of them with minor enchantments on them. For all it appears to have been abandoned, there was no dust in the room. Clearly Keolah was a lazy housekeeper and kept an anti-dust spell over the place. The place was also, needless to say, well-warded, but didn't interfere with people just entering by the door at all.

Jasmine stepped lightly after him and took a look around, but very pointedly avoided touching _anything_ by clasping her hands behind her back. It always led to bad things happening when the heroes started meddling with things they shouldn't in fantasy novels... and this looked like nothing so much as a weird wizardly hangout. 

"Neat," she said, honestly, and poked her nose near some of the shelves, "Who was Keolah, anyway?"

"The great-granddaughter of my father's younger brother," he said, walking over toward the center of the room and touching something somewhere that made the orb move back and reveal a trapdoor. "Dragonblood. Powerful mage. Oh, she's still around somewhere or another too." He opened the trapdoor and went to climb down.

"Errr, are you sure this is a good idea?" Jasmine asked, giving the orb a wide berth as she walked around to look down through the trapdoor. "You _did_ say she was a mage, right?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention. She was Streyka's childe," he said, climbing down the ladder completely undeterred. "No idea what ever happened with that, though," he called up.

"The least he could do is have a Han Solo moment before heading recklessly ahead anyway," Jasmine muttered with amused exasperation, then went to climb down after him. Well, guess Nicholas was right and I _am_ crazy, she snickered inwardly.

Sarril didn't seem at all concerned as he meandered through the rooms of the apartment. It was a very nice place, spacious and well-furnished, with nary a window in sight. There was a four-poster bed in the bedroom. There were magic candles set along the wall that flickered to life when they came near and hissed out when they moved out of range.

"Okay, I'll admit it, this is very nice," Jasmine said, looking around with the appreciative Toreador eye that had spent the last couple hundred years around real, not poseur, style. "This would make a great haven," she enthused, and grinned. "I wonder what the rental rates are?"

Sarril chuckled softly, and said, "I imagine Keolah thought so too. I wonder why she left..."

He shrugged and headed downstairs into the library. There was an impressive selection of books on various topics in this little room, and some more knickknacks on the shelves serving as bookends.

"All the comforts of home," Jasmine remarked idly as she stopped nearby to pass a fingertip along the titles of some of the books.

Oh sure, her Sire's castle was really impressive and even comfortable since it had been built with modern conveniences, but there was something to be said for a nice, quiet hidey-hole when the mood struck. She shook her head and trotted up to catch up with him.

While she wasn't looking, he apparently had opened a secret passage behind one of the bookshelves, revealing another ladder down into darkness. He winked to her and went to climb down.

"You know," Jasmine commented, looking down from above as he climbs, hands on her hips. "You're going to run into the reason she left if you keep poking your nose into things. Haven't you ever heard about curiosity and the cat?"

"Don't worry, it's just her workshop, I've been here plenty of times before..."

"Meow," Jasmine murmured, quirking a smile as she put out a foot and went to follow him down. Really, what was the worst thing they could find in a wizard's laboratory? Other than the soul-devouring minions of darkness? She got a chill at that and sternly reproved the wandering of imagination in the dark tunnel. "You're the native guide," she remarked cheerfully, emerging at the bottom.

As it was dark down here, and no lights were immediately coming on, Sarril flicked his hand to illuminate the area, just in time for them to get assaulted by a shadowy, fanged, snarling vampire who was annoyed at being disturbed.

Jasmine's eyes flickered with a reddish glow to deal with the darkness, the early levels of Protean _had_ been useful to learn after all. The new and hostile arrival came as a surprise, but she'd spent years with martial arts as her specialty art and reflexes kicked in. "Crap!" As a side note, she spent a bit of blood and let the second Protean do its thing and grew some nasty claws.

Dark tendrils of shadow entangled themselves around her, hindering her movement a bit, but they were broken apart by Sarril's light blast a moment later that left the vampire stumbling back and blinking.

Oh, now _that_ was not a good thing! Jasmine leapt toward the blinking creature, maintaining her balance as she brought her claws into play. She was never one to play nicely.

The vampire recovered quickly, however, and brought the room into pitch blackness again, immediately before she ripped at him pretty good with her claws.

With Obtenebration, the Protean shift of the eyes allowed at least limited visibility, but Jasmine luckily wasn't completely without recourse even if the variety at work here was more potent. She could kiss her Sire, errr sorta, for putting her through the tedious lessons of fighting in total darkness, as even the slightest sounds available to the enhanced other senses through Auspex could provide a point to kick or claw. She wasn't picky.

Jasmine accidentally bumped over a clothes rack in the dark, but aside from that, after a quick and bloody battle, Sarril got the lights on again and their attacker ended up laying on the floor in none too good a shape.

Jasmine snarls at the coat rack and poked it with a steel-toed boot in disgust, then carefully walked over to take a look at their opponent, claws still ready.

"You know who this is?" she asked Sarril.

Sarril said, "Never seen them before in my life."

The rack apparently held a couple pitch-black cloaks that seemed to absorb the light around them.

Jasmine moved to crouch near the mystery assailant and glanced over at Sarril as she poised a claw over the vulnerable throat. "You squeamish?" If it'd just been her, she wouldn't have hesitated, but... she growled at herself silently, but let the question stand.

Sarril said, "Surely not."

The vampire stirred a bit, groaning softly. Not exactly one to hesitate once a choice was made, Jasmine slashed ruthlessly across the vampire's throat and dug past to rip through muscle, throat, and spine. Okay, not the least messy way to decapitate someone, but it worked. She kinda forgot about the knives she had stashed away. Oops.

Sarril didn't seem to especially mind. Oddly, the blood on the floor pooled neatly and momentarily sank into unseen cracks without leaving a stain. Clearly someone was serious about keeping their floors clean.

Jasmine stood when the job was done and idly flicked her tongue to the streaked blood and gore on her hands... waste not, want not, gruesome as it might have seemed to a normal person. Her eyes turned to follow the departing blood.

"Mmm, wonder if that's just another cleaning thing or if there's something under the floor we should know about or run away from?"

"You're just paranoid," he said with a smirk. "I have to wonder how he got in here... the secret doors aren't really obvious."

Now that there was a chance to get a better look at the room, the center table had several gemstones on it, some of them magical, with some paper with notes. There were some shelves with books, jars, and magic items on them.

Jasmine smirked. "I'm less paranoid than most Kindred, and my Sire chides me on it!"

She returned to the idle grooming with cat-like grace and walked to take a slow look around, for someplace to get rid of the body if it was too young to return to dust, otherwise just examining things with suddenly renewed suspicion. This fellow was a drow male, and apparently had not been a vampire for very long.

Sarril righted the cloak-rack again and glanced at it pensively. The cloaks were clearly enchanted, of course.

Sarril mused, "Maybe more people know about this place than I thought... but everything still seems to be here... maybe she put in some anti-theft spells or something that I don't know about... hmm, no, I know Azale took some things from here... but then, Azale is a direct descendent of the Chelseer line..."

"He used some of the same shadow tricks as the Lasombra," Jasmine pointed out. "Would any kind of ward apply to one of your grandsire's childer?"

Definitely have to dispose of the body, it seemed like a crime to leave it marring the otherwise pristine setting.

"It's meant to just keep people from teleporting in," he said. "I think she removed the ones that protected it against anyone just walking in when she left the place."

"I think you missed the point," Jasmine chuckled, continuing her look around to include a glance at the notes. "You said there were all of sixty or so vampires here, yet you don't know this one. Sounds like someone's been causing trouble here, and it'd fit your grandsire MO nicely."

"I said on Lezaria," he said. "I don't keep as close track of Wilderplane. But I'm pretty sure I'd have heard about it had there been a sudden influx of vampires here. And yes, it's probable that he's descended from Vadrak... but then, most of the vampires on Mezulbryst are, too, and they've been there for some time..."

"Still seems like weird timing," Jasmine said, "Or just convenient placement, if someone knew you knew of this place. I wouldn't put that kind of triple-thinking beyond someone that old. It starts to be a standard even for Elders."

"Or perhaps he has just been hiding here and we surprised him," he suggested. "I'm sure you're not the first person to think this place would make a great haven... I don't know."

"Okay, okay, so I'm being paranoid," Jasmine smirked, then sighed as she looked down at the mouldering corpse, toeing it with a boot. "Suppose asking a few questions would have been a good idea, too bad it's so messy and ugly trying to get any information out of Kindred. That's," she blanched, "Not really my thing."

"Could've had Streyka do it," he said, shrugging. "I don't know how someone might have guessed that I might come here, anyway. I didn't even know I was going to come here until an hour ago..."

Jasmine shrugged, then collected the head and lay it on top of the body, then looked around for a moment. "Hmm," she muttered and retrieved one of the cloaks to tie around the corpse and keep the loose bit with it and curled over to minimize blood leaking from the shattered neck, then carefully lifted it. "Let's find a place to get rid of this, at least." So she did have _some_ lines where squeamishness kicked in. Not many though.

Sarril went over to help with that. The cloak bore a tag that says, "Warning: Flammable".

Jasmine waved him off, definitely strong enough with Potence and familiar with the ways of carrying variously broken bodies of old, but had to blink at the tag as it flapped loose.

"Okay, that's a weird warning to put on a cloak," she said, then looked around. "Hmm, I wonder _how_ flammable it is? There a fireplace somewhere around here?"

"Oh, these," Sarril said. "Keolah was trying to make sunlight-resistant cloaks. Unfortunately, she ended up making cloaks that burst into flames in sunlight instead..."

Jasmine snickered. "That wouldn't be really useful. On either level." She shrugged. "It was just a thought, I haven't done much of this sort of thing in a while now and I had access to a crematorium then. Just have to find a more mundane disposal method."

"Well, they'll burn nicely in normal flames too. And don't think of the candles -- they aren't really fire, just illusory light."

"I'm sure there's something around here to deal with it," Jasmine replied stubbornly. "What kind of crazy wizard's lair doesn't have someplace to dispose of failed experiments and other nastiness? Besides, there's enough magic to keep the place clean on its own, there has to be _something_ manual for bigger jobs."

She went to take a look. She found a switch beside the bookshelf labeled "Disposal chute". There was a small sign next to it that said, "Please dispose of bodies head-first."

Jasmine giggled at the sign, then flushed a deep red as she caught herself. She _hated_ when she did that, it sounded so... gah! With determined surliness she followed the directions and dumped the body into the chute, head, or at least shoulders (she wasn't about to unwrap it just to literally dump the head in first!), first. It disappeared down into darkness.

"Right," Jasmine muttered, grimacing as she hoped Sarril didn't hear her lapse, and turned to go find him... hopefully far enough way. Mysteries were, thankfully, not really all that much of an interest to her beyond a couple minor questions that could either answer it or leave the thing hanging for all she cared. People who got into that sort of thing were just plain weird, in her eyes.

Sarril was standing by glancing over some of the notes Keolah had left on the main table. Diagrams and drawings with reference notes in Tinean runes.

Jasmine found a place to wash the last remnants of vamp-slushee off her hands, then walked back to take a look at what he was examining. "What's that?" she asked, none of it making sense to her.

"Keolah's notes, I guess," he said. "I don't understand much of it myself." He shrugged.

"Well, whatever they were looking for," Jasmine said. "They didn't quite find it." She poked him in the shoulder with a smirk. "So are there more hidden passages you want to chance down here and see if there's more people wanting to bite your face off?"

"Not that I know of," he said, heading for the ladder. "Think that's enough adventure for one night? Heh."

"Not really," Jasmine quipped as she followed. "Push the count up by a half dozen or so, and I'll think about it. Or something else to entertain. The night's still young!"

Sarril chuckled and headed back out of the apartment and to the elevator again. "Certainly. Plenty more to see, I imagine."

"Hey, I showed you a caern and introduced you to a bunch of oddball shapeshifters," Jasmine prodded teasingly. "I think that leaves a little credit on the ledgers over an empty, if lovely, haven and one crazy Lasombra. Although," she admitted with a grin, "That got some extra points for action." And blood, and now. Argh.

Sarril snickered, and got into the elevator and presses the button for the ground floor. "There's a nice museum near here, too."

"Museums can be nice enough," Jasmine replied, then frowned and flicked a bit of dried crust from the edge of one coat-sleeve with a fingernail. There were advantages to wearing black, besides being flattering, and the importance of making blood unobvious wasn't to be underestimated. "Any particular type?" she asked as the elevator descended.

"It's a museum of weird things," he said. "For instance, it has the oldest known piece of cheese..."

"The oldest piece of cheese..." Jasmine looked at him strangely. "Are you _sure_ there aren't any Malks around here?"

"No, the Elkandu are bad enough," he said. "Someone once said that the word 'sane', when applied to an Elkandu, simply meant 'disinclined to dress up in a chicken suit and dance on the roof'."

Jasmine made a face and muttered, "So they're _all_ Malks, just with different levels of function. Eesh." She smirked and cast a glance his way. "So how come you turned out so well? No rabid barking at the moon or chasing around UFOs, just a decent and stable guy."

"It's mainly exaggeration, really," he said. "You just don't hear as much about the normal, sane ones. It's far more interesting to talk about how this Chronomancer dressed up as a chicken and danced on the roof, I guess."

He stepped out of the elevator and headed down the street. There were a lot more drow on the streets than other races, this late at night. Jasmine took a little more notice of the people in passing this time around, part of her still not trusting entirely to the recent 'coincidence'. She might not have her Sire's facility or love for watching the aura's of everyone in the area, but she could pick pale ones out with little more than a glance.

"Same concept as the news," she chuckled lightly. "Good news doesn't sell papers, people want the juicy stuff."

"I suppose it's inevitable when you've got people living for hundreds of years. Some of em go nuts. Some just hole away in their basements for decades."

He shrugged, heading over to that museum he mentioned. There was certainly quite the array of the bizarre and random on display.

"Yeah, know how _that_ goes," Jasmine agreed dryly, having met plenty of older Kindred over the years through her Sire's affiliations and many of them were quite... unique. The clan really didn't seem to matter when it came down to eccentricities like that, though she couldn't think of anyone but a Malk who would have gone to the chicken suit wearing lengths.

She trailed along companionably, looking at the exhibits. Some of them are enchanted novelties, others just mechanical gizmos. Like lava lamps, or those silly things with the balls that hit one another. As they were looking, a rolled up newspaper appeared out of thin air and dropped itself at their feet.

"Ooookay..." Jasmine took a look around for signs of anything unusual, then slowly dipped down to pick up the paper after poking at it with a fingertip. Provided nothing went boom, she'd take a closer look at the thing. The top of the page reads "The Daily Seeker".

Sarril said, "Oh, my subscription. I forgot that Azale's likely to send you the thing any damned place you might be... Anything good?"

"Uhhh, I dunno..." Jasmine replied, intrigued enough by his response to scan it a little, not that she'd be likely to recognize anything of interest unless the paper were to reach out and bite her!

The headlines were fairly dull today even by the standards of someone that probably didn't know who any of the people they were talking about or the places they mentioned might be. A slow news day, apparently. Still interesting after a fashion, it wasn't every day that an inter-dimensional newspaper dropped at a girl's feet! Jasmine shook her head and grins as she neatly folds it back up and passed it over to him.

"Maybe it's better than back home and useful for something other than cage-lining, but I doubt it."

Sarril turned over to the horoscopes, and said, "Hmm. 'You will be attacked by an irate vampire. Then you will be attacked by another irate vampire. Then you will be attacked by yet another irate vampire.'" He scratched his head for a moment.

Jasmine smirked. "You'd better be making that up, or that horrorscope will be whoever wrote the stupid thing as I grab that paper and go find them to swat them soundly about the head and shoulders."

"No, seriously," he said, showing her the page. It said precisely what it said he did.

Jasmine rolled her eyes, then suddenly lost all humorous aspect as she hmmed. "Y'know, if we get a second one somewhere around here, it may just pay off to have a little chat with whoever writes that drivel." She smirked again. "Yeah, yeah, I'm paranoid, but is it really paranoia when people _are_ out to get you?" Really said something about the WoD Kindred...

"Maybe he got a Chronomancer to do the horoscopes, or something," Sarril wondered, then shrugged. "But hey, at least it didn't say 'you will be attacked by several irate vampires at the same time' or something. Shall we go see if we can't get ourselves into some more trouble?" He smirked.

Jasmine just looked at him, then couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Oh what the hell, I might as well prove that I'm as crazy as they say. So where does a girl go to find trouble in this town?"

She grinned wickedly and left the definition of that to his imagination. In for a penny, in for a pound.


	7. Nightmare Tour

So, after browsing through the museum some, Sarril headed back out onto the starlit streets again. A ways down the road from the Spire square, they came upon a temple.

Sarril said, "The drow here insisted on worshipping Keolah as a god, in spite of her insistence that she wasn't. Heh."

"Apparently the same thing happened with the Kindred back in Carthage," Jasmine replied, keeping an eye out as they stroll along for any signs of the fulfillment of the horoscope's other irate vampires. "Of course I don't think they exactly did much to discourage it, in fact there's stories that they did just the opposite and ended up doing some really, umm, odd things."

Looked quiet enough around here. Sarril headed over to the temple. It wasn't really huge or opulent, but from the carvings and such it looked as though a good deal of care had gone into it.

"But there's more than meets the eye here too."

"Uh-huh," Jasmine looked at him with an amused smirk. "I suppose there's another hidey-hole in there that you're just dying to check out and see if our next contender is lurking therein?"

"Well, naturally," he said nonchalantly, heading inside.

A larger-than-life statue of a robed elven maiden stood looking to them with hands outstretched, and several drow were present praying. Corridors led off to either side of the room.

Jasmine grinned and shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

She followed him. The decor was nice enough, if a little too much on the religious angle for her tastes, but she was more interested in seeing this newest little secret. If there was indeed another vampire or two in the near future she intended to find out what was going on. Once was coincidence, twice was something something, but three times was conspiracy... or something like that.

Sarril headed off down one of the side corridors, past some tapestries depicting interesting (and sometimes violent) scenes. He was in no particular rush and took a moment to glance over them thoughtfully. There was no reason to ignore the place, that was for sure, and Jasmine paused as he did to look at some of the artwork... hey, it was in the blood!

She caught herself staring at one of them in the beginnings of a glazing over and turned quickly to catch up with him, muttering, "I am _not_ going to start comparisons to various artistic styles and periods. Eesh!"

Sarril chuckled softly and strolled on casually. Burning torches lit the stone corridors, however they didn't seem to actually give off heat, only light. More magical lighting fixtures. After meandering through a veritable maze of corridors, Sarril came to a staircase down and headed down. It was cold and darker down there, with no lights, so he made an illusionary light to light the way.

"Handy that," Jasmine remarked casually, hands in coat pockets as she strode beside him. "My very own personal tour guide/walking flashlight, I bet you could make a fortune in the industry." She whistled a couple of aimless notes, projecting innocence.

Sarril snickered softly. "Down here, under the temple, is where a circle of drow mages created a portal to Mezulbryst after they were cursed. They saw Mezulbryst as their salvation... They didn't foresee how so many of them would later be killed there in the Demon Wars."

"Mm, the easy way out," Jasmine replied. "Wonder how many times on how many worlds that's been a euphemism, or at least a foreshadowing, of a quick and painless death?" She chuckled and continued looking around.

Down past the stairs, there was a ledge that opened into a cavern with a tunnel leading off. Sarril glanced around the cavern, and, satisfied that there was nothing leaping out of the shadows at them just yet, headed down the tunnel.

"The portal is just a little ways down this way..."

"The portal, he said," Jasmine muttered as she looked around, then continued following. "Perfectly normal, mundane things to have laying all over the place, like socks but with a 'p' instead." She smiled sweetly at him, elaborately so. "What's this about a portal?"

"Right down here," he said, indicating a patch of tunnel that would be invisible to the naked eye, but detectable with less mundane senses. "They put the portal in this tunnel, fashioned it so that you'd never notice it was even here..."

"Okay, I'll bite," Jasmine said, then grinned. "Well, no, not really, not unless I'm asked nicely, but anyway... Any particular reason they were hiding this portal? What, it leads to the Fortress of Solitude, or maybe the city of Atlantis?" She chuckled.

"After the curse was put in place, the drow were ... persecuted. Some of them were dragged out into the streets in daylight and hung from tall buildings and left there to die slowly... It was not a pretty time."

"Ahh, now I see," Jasmine replied, and she did, it wasn't like there hadn't been plenty of times when similar hatreds had gone to insane lengths back home. Right after the Awakening had been particularly ugly, or maybe that was just because she remembered it personally and had been part of one of the groups that had been targeted.

Sarril headed through the portal. "So they thought they'd be safe on Mezulbryst," he said. "And while they were safe from that particular hazard, it had its own issues..."

"Such as these demons you mentioned," Jasmine said, staying nearby as he led onward. "Can't say that I've ever run across an actual demon before, the things that were called that back home were just another type of spirit, albeit very nasty ones."

"There are angels and demons among the Elkandu," he said. "They are... well, they're classified as an 'ascension'... a change to the soul that turns them into something else, allows a physical change too at will to their angel or demon form with wings, claws, horns, whatnot, depending on the type..."

"Angels and demons." Jasmine chuckled. "I'm sure the church freaks would just go totally crazy over that, foaming at the mouth for different reasons on each. Religious nuts, ugh."

"Religion tends to be very odd around here," he said, meandering down the tunnel. It opened into a similar basement like room on the other end. "Most of the time the things that get worshipped aren't gods at all, and if they exist, are just random relatively powerful beings of various sorts. And most of the things that are generally agreed on are really 'gods', are mainly just powerful spirits that most people don't actually worship..."

Jasmine snorted, eyes open for shadowy, sneaky vampires as she trailed along. "Makes more sense than the idiots back home, at least there's sometimes something out there that's somewhat real. But oh no, let's worship a guy who's been dead for over two thousand years, or hey, how about a two-faced god whose major accomplishments were tormenting people and causing natural disasters?" She rolled her eyes. "At least the fuzzies make a little more sense, since they can actually go and visit this 'Gaia' they follow."

As they entered the room at the end of the tunnel, they spotted some movement under the stairs in the shadows. But whatever it was only seemed to be trying to get out of the light.

Well it couldn't hurt to take a look, right? Not much anyway. Jasmine fell back toward the edge of Sarril's circle of light and tried to get a better look at whatever this thing was, preferably without getting chewed up, mangled, or otherwise maimed. As she approaches, it became rather clear that it was another vampire, hiding under the stairs.

"Uh-huh," Jasmine muttered and edged back away and into the circle of light, glancing over at Sarril. "Looks like we're disturbing someone's beauty rest, let's move along before we make the second part of that horrorscope true ourselves, hmm?" It didn't pay to poke your nose into the affairs of other vampires, only the Salubri were crazy enough to be Good Samaritan types.

"Just leave me alone," muttered the vampire, retreating further into the darkness.

Sarril shrugged and climbed up the stairs. Jasmine wasn't about to interfere when someone said something like that, not her problem and certainly no benefit in it! 

"So," she comments as she followed up the stairs. "We're headed into the territory of these drow, and there was some sort of demon wars. They don't have any special dislike of Kindred, do they?"

"Not last time I checked, no," Sarril said.

They emerged into another temple similar to the one on Wilderplane, but much darker, rougher, and simpler. There were only a couple drow worshipping in the main room at the moment.

"If they start chanting Kali-ma, I'm leaving," Jasmine remarked facetiously.

She took a good look around at the gothic scenery. This trip had been full of things you didn't see every day, and she'd been enjoying it too much to pass by even the little details. Sarril toned his light down to a dim glow out of courtesy for the drow.

There were carven murals along one of the walls, depicting some very violent scenes with demons, and then further along the wall there was a carven image of Keolah scooping up the demons with giant hands and throwing them into a pit. Very classic imagery, Jasmine mused, could be murals right out of the old Catholic churches over in Europe. These at least had some basis in historical events, rather than some mythological mishmash of dogma and blind faith.

After walking slowly through the temple, Sarril headed outside into Mezulbryst's eternal night. A blood red moon hung high overhead, and stars twinkled faintly in the sky.

Jasmine stopped just outside and looked up at the sky, then shook her head with a faint grin as she moved to catch up with Sarril. "So there's no sun here?" she asked, "That has to be convenient."

"No sun," he agreed. "Physically, I'm not sure how it works, but then I was never exactly a scientist anyway." He shrugged. "Mezulbryst is known as the World of Shadows."

"I'm sure the astrophysicists would go nuts," Jasmine agreed, smirking, pretty sure that a place like this shouldn't be possible without a star's gravitational well to pull all the stellar junk together and form a planetary system. "Can't complain about it, though," she added, looking up again, "It's definitely a nice night, even if the moon's a bit cliche."

"Mezulbryst has four moons," Sarril said. "They're called Death, Famine, War, and Pestilence. That one is War."

He smirks faintly, strolled off down the streets. A warm breeze came in from the northeast, and in that direction, the faint light of molten lava could be seen in the distance.

"Okay, who named them after the Four Horsemen?" Jasmine snickered.

She strode alongside, and turned a sharp eye toward the sight of lava. The thought of what that stuff could do to a Kindred was enough to make the Beast uneasy, and unusual enough that she didn't have the usual handles to shoo it back into its cage. _Have to be careful,_ she thought warily.

Sarril noticed her looking in that direction and said, "Off that way is the River Acheron, a river of molten lava. It flows on down from the mountains past here and Shieltas to the north and then off out to the southwest. It's one of the four major rivers of Mezulbryst. The other three are the River Styx, Cocytus, and Lethe."

"Someone definitely had a mythology fixation," Jasmine chuckled, tearing her gaze away from the molten river and looking to him. "I think I'll pass on the scenic river cruise, don't want to think what all that liquid fire would do to one of us and neither does the Beast."

Sarril snickered softly. "Some of the drow built fireboats that can ride the molten lava. I think they're crazy." He shrugged. "At least the other three rivers are rather more benign. Cocytus doesn't exactly flow... it's frozen solid. Lethe flows with alcohol. And the River Styx is pure blood."

"Blood?" Jasmine asked, surprised and her interest piqued by the idea, perhaps sharpened a bit by the vampiric affinity for the stuff, "Where does a river of it come from?" And imagine if Styx and Lethe shared a tributary... talk about a vampire hedonist's dream!

"Out from the mountains above Iron City," Sarril said. "Iron City's near the source of it, and it flows down there meandering around northern Mezulbryst until it empties into the Stygian Sea, at the city of Stygia."

"Just... out of the mountains," Jasmine made a vague gesture, then chuckled. "I can only imagine the kind of stir that'd cause back home, a river of the stuff, no need to hunt... hell, the fuzzies and the kine would be ecstatic about it."

"I imagine there's a reason why Iron City has the highest population of vampires anywhere in the Elkandu worlds," he said. "Well, I imagine there's plenty in Stygia too, but I wouldn't want to go to Stygia... there's a powerful enchantment over the place that traps the undead there."

"Can't say I blame them," Jasmine replied, the idea of vampires _not_ taking advantage of that kind of surplus was insane, but she shook the sinful image of bathing in a stream of vitae and alcohol away with a shiver. "Uhm," she shifted gears deliberately. "Traps the undead? What happens to them?"

"They stay there, haunting the streets as zombies, wraiths, skeletons, ghosts, and such, until some group of brave adventurers shows up to try to destroy some of them in hopes of finding some treasure, and usually ends up joining them there."

"Sounds delightful," Jasmine replied dryly. "I think we can safely leave that off the itinerary."

"Indeed."

Down the streets, they'd come to a stable containing several enormous equine beings, some of them as much as twice the size of normal horses, with bat-like wings along their backs and fiery eyes. There was a drow stable hand feeding them as if it was perfectly normal.

"Nightmares!" Jasmine said with clear delight, not so much that they're adorable and fluffy-cute or safe since she doesn't get _too_ close to the things, but more in appreciation for the fantastic element and the elegant, strong lines of the creatures. Okay, foals might be cute, just like griffin chicks were adorable.

The drow, noticing her interest, said over to them, "Aye, lassie, I've got some fine beasties here. Don't worry, they won't bite. Well, probably. Much."

Jasmine smirked, walking a little closer and tucking her hands behind her back to avoid providing any tempting targets for the legendarily ill-tempered beasts. "Uh-huh," she replied disbelievingly. "And I'm sure they're great with kids, too."

They didn't seem to be biting the drow man at least, perhaps because he was busy shoving them other things to munch on instead. "They're trained for riding, too. Reasonable rates for rent for transportation and pleasure."

"Now that's a subtle sales pitch if I ever heard one," Jasmine grinned over at Sarril. "What do ya say? Better than walking all over the place, even if the upholstery isn't quite up to my usual standards."

Sarril said, "Sounds good to me. One, or two?" He dug out some little rectangular bits of some dull, pitch black material from his pocket (apparently some sort of local currency).

"Up to you," Jasmine replied absently.

She cast a quick look at the odd bits of currency and making a note to figure out the exchange rates sometime if she was planning on spending any time around here. Sarril shrugged and opted for renting one of the nightmares for a few hours.

The drow said, "Thank you muchly. Take your pick, but I'd suggest Midnight over there, personally. She just loves to fly."

Jasmine grinned at the recommendation. "Oh, and here I was thinking the wings were just for show!"

She headed over to take a look at the suggested beast, though not sure offhand whether to treat it like a horse or something else. She shrugged and decided to approach it like she had the griffin, slow and calm, and murmuring soothingly as she extended a hand cautiously toward it... ready to snatch it back if teeth flashed.

The beast mentioned was relatively gentle and nice. That is, she seemed more inclined to rip apart her food than them. She already appeared to be almost finished with what she had been given. She was harnessed with straps for up to three people. That was a point in the animal's favor, at least, and it wasn't as if Jasmine hadn't seen a ghouled horse now and then that had developed a taste for ripping hunks out of people after years of being given blood.

"Come on." She grinned brightly over at Sarril and moved around to the beast's side to look at the seating and how to get aboard. "Let's take the pinto for a test drive."

Sarril chuckled, and hauled himself up and strapped in, and reached down to offer her help up if she needed it.

Jasmine wasn't above a helping hand, especially since she hadn't ridden in _years_. She settled in behind him and straps herself in after his example, "You do know how to drive _this_ , I hope," she teased lightly.

"Oh, sure," Sarril said reassuringly. "Well, okay, so I haven't ridden a nightmare in two hundred years, but uh... whatever." He grinned coyly, and brought Midnight out of the stable and into the air.

"If I fall into a lava river, I'll sue," Jasmine retorted dryly, but wasn't really all that worried... worse came to worst, there was always the whole bat thing.

She chuckled at the thought and hung on as they get moving, and twitched as the beast's muscles clenched and then sprung them into the air. They quickly gained altitude, the town of Ameliel sprawling out below them. From up here, she got a clear view of the lava river a mile or so to the northeast. Further to the north, some lights could be seen from what looked to be another city with a castle several miles north of them. Definitely not a completely comfortable experience, but Jasmine forced the knot of tension to ease as she takes a look around from the unique vantage point.

"This has an airplane beat hooves-down," she said, the sweep of the creature's wings interesting in their own right.

"That's Shieltas, over there to the north," Sarril said, pointing with one hand as he directed the beast closer.

As they grew nearer to it, the spiring towers of the castle and the glowing runes of the city itself could be more clearly seen. Jasmine leaned forward to look along the line he was pointing to, though admittedly a bit distractedly. Down, she remonstrated silently and focused on the sights below.

"What's with all the strange designs?" she asked, remembering the runes of the Nexus and wondering if these had a similar purpose.

"Magic runes," he explained. "Even though nobody lives here at the moment, the city is enchanted to keep itself in good condition and repair any damage done to it. And that castle is one of the most well-protected places in the Elkandu worlds... It used to be used as the headquarters for the faction Tempest."

"Why doesn't anyone live there, if it's so well-protected?" Jasmine wondered, especially with the local Kindred population he'd mentioned. That sort of security was always high on the list of important details for them, something about wanting to keep their more-or-less immortal hides intact. She could live with that.

"Suzcecoz built the place, back during the Age of Rogue Winds," he said. "She used to live here and do a lot of her experiments here. But the place has a very powerful selective ward over it, that will only let in who she allows in. Not a place you can sneak into easily, that's for sure."

"Ah, that'd explain it," Jasmine replied. "And I take it she doesn't have any interest in leasing it out to just anyone."

Not that the idea might be such a good one anyway, with the revelation of experimentation having gone on there. There were some places you just didn't want to get _too_ close to, not when you didn't know what might have been forgotten about along the way. Old Sabbat Tzimisce territories were _bad_ for that.

"Weird place, enchanted to all hell, I swear the place randomly creates rooms when they're needed too, easy to get lost in there..."

The nightmare continued flying on north, crossing over the molten river a long, long way below. Jasmine only looked downward once toward the burning river, then unconsciously tightened her grip on the nightmare and leaned closer to Sarril. The Beast really wasn't happy about the idea of being so close and on such a thin thread above destruction, and she tried to distract it through a sharper focus on the details ahead.

"Sounds like just the place for someone willing to poke around an abandoned wizard's lab," she said dryly.

They were over the river quickly and on toward the mountains. Stark, black peaks towered toward the sky, blood red, black, obsidian, and for the most part lifeless.

"Cheerful as the mountains of Mordor," Jasmine remarked with deliberately light humor, the passage of the river easing her a bit.

The nightmares wove her way through the peaks, and here and there, rivulets of deep red liquid well up and run off into streams, down through valleys, winding toward the north.

"What's that?" Jasmine asked near his ear, pointing down past him to the streams. "The source of the Styx?"

He nodded, and said, "Looks like it. We're getting close to the edge of the mountains now it looks like. Hang on, the weather in Iron City looks particularly bad tonight."

Jasmine had to wonder just what the source of the Styx truly was, and how a river could be formed of vitae without the natural process of coagulation affecting it... the natural fascination for one's living requirement, she mused wryly and turned her attention toward the indication of the weather Sarril had warned of, holding tight as he'd suggested.

The river of blood emerged from the mountains into a city that seemed to be constructed of dark, unrusting metal, and angry clouds overhead obscured the stars and poured down torrents of rain. Lightning flickered in the skies overhead.

"Can we get over this?" Jasmine asked between one rumble of thunder and the next, looking at the storm front worriedly, nature's finest really wasn't anything to trifle with. "Or better to get to ground?"

"It's always raining in Iron City," he replied. "When the red moon is full, it even rains blood. Care to land and take a look around?"

Raining blood, how apocalyptic! "Sure," Jasmine chuckled and carefully reached up to turn the collar of her coat up against a little more of the dreary weather. Oh well, it wasn't like she was about to melt with a little rain.

Sarril set them down near a stable currently occupied by a unicorn, a pegasus, two griffins, and a hippogriff, and placed her in a stall with a sign that said, "Three hour parking maximum."

Jasmine has to grin at the presence of a unicorn. It seemed just a _little_ out of place among the rest of the beasts and hardly an icon that was associated with the dark and gritty underside of the night. She shook her head in amusement as she dismounted and walked out of the stall, pausing to stretch hugely after the ride.

"Mm, been a while," she said.

Sarril grinned broadly and headed out onto the streets. Most of the inhabitants here seemed to be completely ignoring the rain -- in fact, it was a fair way to tell who was an outsider here. The city seemed to be populated by humans, drow, demons, vampires, goblins, orcs, and the like.

Jasmine didn't really mind the rain, and stopped for a minute as they left the stables to look upward and let it trace rivulets across her pale features, probably for the good that she wasn't much of one for makeup. It'd been a while since she'd been out in the open enough to enjoy the 'unpleasant' natural elements, and she caught up with him after a few moments longer and took a good look around.

"Friendly looking bunch of folks," she commented dryly.

A goblin went screaming flying overhead and splatted against a building on the next block.

Sarril said, "Aren't they, though?"

He went to point out and identify the different types of demons around. Fire demons, who looked unhappy about the rain but were stubbornly ignoring it. Water demons, who looked pleased as punch. Ice devils, who tended to make little crystals form near them, and so forth.

Real, honest to g... something demons, now that was something to take note of. Jasmine paid attention with clear fascination, _definitely_ not something she was going to see back home. All part of the tourist biz, and making it quite clear that there was a lot more to be seen out here than she'd even considered when she'd first stumbled across the Nexus after Sarril.

The inhabitants didn't seem to be particularly hostile. Aside from some sort-of friendly brawls, at any rate. Sarril took them in out of the rain into one of the taverns. There was a sign that said "Please wipe your feet" next to the door.

Jasmine remained quietly alert for signs of anything that might be personally dangerous, but overall just watches the locals and the passing scenery with a casual calm. She complied with the sign as they entered the tavern and took an extra moment to squeeze a bit of the water out of her almost shoulder-length hair.

"I can only imagine what a madhouse it's got to be when it starts raining blood," she mused.

"I'd imagine," he said. Sarril didn't really like being here, for various reasons, but if Vadrak were trying to sneak in "spies" or some such, Iron City would be the best place to do it without being noticed.

The barkeep was an imp, with small demonic wings, tiny horns, and cloven hooves. "Can I get you folks something?" he said.

"Any local specialties to recommend?" Jasmine looked over at Sarril in question, not missing the flickers of emotion that signal less than total enthusiasm for their current venue.

"Well, for yous, I've got blood wine, blood beer, blood mead, blood ale, and, of course, fresh blood."

"Wine, please," Jasmine replied, going with the old standby.

Sarril agreed, and the imp telekinetically lifted a bottle and poured them a couple glasses of dark red liquid.

Jasmine watched the creature curiously and took a glass when it was presented. "Thanks," she said and took a small sip as she turned to take a look at the rest of the tavern's main area.

There was a similar segment of the city's population represented here, including a number of vampires. Clearly when Sarril had said he'd never heard of a place with a lot of vampires, Iron City was the exception (and for good reason), and he knew perfectly well why there were so many in Iron City...

"Come on," Jasmine said, tilting her head in the direction of a table that looked to be unspoken for and a bit out of the way, "Let's have a seat." She walked off in that direction.

Sarril nodded and headed over to take a seat there. "Been a while since I've been to Iron City..." he mused, sipping his beverage.

Jasmine set her glass down on the table, then removed her coat and hung it over the back of her seat before sliding down. "Why so long?" she asked quietly, taking another sip of her own.

"I always think whenever I come here there might be someone who remembers..."

"You did seem a little edgy." Jasmine smiled apologetically. "We can head back out after a drink to drive out the chill, no reason to hang out where you're not going to be having any fun."

"Most of the ones here are the descendants of the ones driven off Lezaria centuries ago," Sarril said quietly, then made an amused grunt. "Of course, if we'd known that they'd end up on a planet with no sun next to a river of blood..."

"Might have let them keep it and moved in yourself, huh?" Jasmine jested lightly. "Certainly seems like an ideal setup, if you don't mind the rain."

"Attracts a lot of unsavory sorts," he said, shrugging. "But they're for the most part perfectly content to keep their city and not go around invading other worlds or causing trouble elsewhere."

"Can't say I blame them," Jasmine smirked. "The appeal of no sun and an endless flow of vitae? Please, any Kindred would give their fangs for that. The appeal is tremendous, and the image of finding a cross of Styx and Lethe to take a nice long bath in? Mmmm."

She took a drink, shooing off the image that had risen earlier at first mention of the setup. Other than the shadowy remnants, it'd be a paradise!

Sarril chuckled softly. "I do think some of my own ended up wandering off here at some point or another, too. Can't say I blame them, either." He shrugged. "Even so far as suns go, Lezaria's sun is unusually bright and nasty."

"But it has some nice scenery," Jasmine countered, grinning. "At least if you've got a castle tucked away with a good view of the mountains someplace, anyway."

"There's a lot of those on Lezaria. Castles, mountains, forests... No rivers of blood, certainly, but some perfectly ordinary ones, and waterfalls..."

"I suppose one must make do with what one has on hand," Jasmine replied in a dry, aristocratic tone, then smirked and returned to more casual mode. "Can't be too terrible if you've kept things going there this long."

She idly wondered just what generation he fell under, but remained silent on the question as that wasn't something that was considered precisely polite conversation... with good reason. Of course, considering his origins, it was likely he probably didn't know, anyway. Sarril drained his glass and stretched a bit.

Promptly, they were attacked by an irate vampire who shouted, "You! It's Sarril Farmer! Come get him, boys!" ... the others present weren't exactly jumping to their chairs to help him. They didn't seem to really care.

Jasmine contemplated the remainder of her wine and was about to drain the last of it when the shout rang out. Damnit, they couldn't have waited _five_ more minutes until they'd gone? She slipped from her seat and flows to interpose herself, claws sliding from her fingertips.

"I wouldn't," she warned coolly. "Just go back to your drink and we'll be on our way, mmkay?"

Perhaps he'd had too much to drink, or maybe he was just an idiot, but he wasn't about to be deterred by logic today.

 _Figures_ , Jasmine muttered inwardly, then went to deal with the idiot, there was a reason she'd studied all the various forms over the years after all. By preference she was going to try and throw the jerk across the room, giving them enough time to get the hell out in the confusion.

He ended up crashing into the far wall and slumping to the ground, rather dazed. The patrons watched with bland amusement for the brief moment of entertainment, not taking sides.

Sarril tossed a couple slips of tebrite to the barkeep on the way out, saying, "Sorry about the mess."

"Sorry 'bout that," Jasmine added with an apologetic smile in passing, and headed out the door, only pausing as they get outside to put her coat back on. "Well, that'd be strike two." She smirked.

"Like I said," Sarril said. "Meh, idiots."

He headed back to the stable to where they'd parked the nightmare.

"Bru are everywhere, by any other name," Jasmine replied, striding alongside him on the way back. "Sorry, I guess I really didn't think about dropping in here and what it meant. Just grab a rolled up newspaper and say 'no!' next time."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Sarril said. "It's not like the occasional idiot is hard to deal with. Most of them don't exactly mind being here after all."

Jasmine chuckled. "Yeah well, don't want to end up on that short list of people to avoid."

She ducked into the stable and headed for the stall with their winged beastie to get back aboard and ready for takeoff.

Sarril brought the nightmare out of the stable and into the sky, departing the city and leaving the perpetual rainstorm behind. The minute the buildings broke, the skies cleared up above them.

"That can't be natural," Jasmine said, looking back at the sharp line that cut off the storm. "Who pissed off the weather gods?"

"Oh, it's always stormy in Iron City," Sarril said. "I don't know why. I'm sure there's some magi-technical explanation for it. Of course, considering this is on a planet with no sun, with a river of blood, I wouldn't expect everything to follow the logical laws of physics."

"Good point," Jasmine admitted cheerfully enough, appreciating the built-in air dryer that came with the nightmare as transportation. "Is all of this world that screwy, or is Iron City an exception?"

"Off in the northwest, there was Sedder's Chasm. It was so deep that it split through several different worlds. Then it disappeared. Then it reappeared again for no apparent reason. You can go down through it and end up in Straegarx. Or if you go up high enough over it, you'll come out on Wilderplane."

Jasmine blinked. "I'd say that comes in as saying that it's no exception. Really makes me wonder why back home is so technology predominant when there's so many other worlds where magic is the prime motivating force."

"Generally I've noticed worlds with a lower level of mana tend to be more reliant on technology than magic," he said. "But on the main Elkandu worlds, the barrier between the physical and ethereal planes is very thin."

"Makes sense," Jasmine replied. "And probably why the fuzzies tend to be a lot more in-tune with it than the Kindred. The caern up in the mountains is apparently a place where the..." She frowned in thought. "They call it the 'gauntlet' for some reason, anyway, it's thin enough where things can appear on their own. Nicholas had a hell of a time keeping this one unicorn out of the carrots when he cooked there last time." She snickered.

Sarril giggled. Some ways from Iron City, some scraggly grass was growing out of the gray wastelands, and several black unicorns were grazing at it below. That was absolutely no fair, Jasmine groused silently, she giggled and sounded like a twittering idiot... hmph. She turned her attention downward, but it took a minute to recognize the equines as unicorns.

"Huh, never seen a black one before." With good reason, seeing as there was only one in the World of Darkness, and he didn't tend to hang about casually.

"Only on Mezulbryst," he said. "They tend to be not the most friendly sorts usually, though they've been known to tolerate some people..."

"Even the fairy tales disagreed on that," Jasmine said. "The sappy sweet cutesy tales portrayed them as all rainbows and light, naturally, but they were really mean and nasty little buggers in others. The ones I've seen seem to be a middle ground, though there might be a difference between the spirit and real ones."

Heading off to the east, they flew up along the River Styx for a while away from Iron City. "There's all sorts of random critters you might run into on the various worlds," he said. "Some of them seem to spring from mythology and such... while others are just... completely random. Like the nirrils..."

"Good thing I don't tend to let my blood pool get low enough to be hungry," Jasmine chuckled, looking down toward the river. "Otherwise I'd probably be glad enough to take a dive." She drug her eyes away from the dark ribbon and looked at him. "So what's a nirril?"

"Picture... vampiric teddy bears," he said with a snigger.

Jasmine did her best to picture that, then shuddered. "Oh that's enough to inspire daymares. Yeek. There are some small drawbacks to having the vivid imagination of your average Torrie."

Sarril chuckled softly. "I don't know where they came from. Just that they're adorably cute, fierce, and bloodthirsty little buggers."

"Oh yeah, just the thing to terrify the kiddies with." Jasmine smirked. "Though I could see a use for em..." she trailed off, mind twisting and turning over the long-standing feud she had with her brother and the practical and impractical jokes they played on each other. "Hmm."

"Luckily, their primary prey is rodents. They're too small to easily kill a human," he said brightly.

Their nightmare flew down the River Styx and they could see the city of Stygia near the shores of a wide sea. Sarril was certain to give the place a wide berth.

"Stygia?" Jasmine asked, looking in that direction and remembering his mention of it laying at the end of the Styx. "Who built that one? Who set the trap?"

"Well," he said. "Thousands of years ago, there was a crazy necromancer, he lived in that tower there." He indicated the black tower at the edge of town. "The Shadow Tower. He wanted to attain immortality and picked one of the less intelligent means of attaining it... He opened a portal to, well, Hell."

"Uh right," Jasmine said. "That ranks up there with running for public office in terms of wise approaches to power. Sheesh, someone clearly hadn't been paying attention to the fine print at the bottom, were they? Doesn't pay to traffic with some things." Not that there weren't always those who would do it anyway, the WoD had countless examples past and present as proof of the idiot population.

"Yeah, the results were fairly predictable," he said. "The city was cursed, and fell into ruins, and it was called only the Forsaken Ruins for some time. But the portal remained, connecting the two realms together inexorably... until the Planar Wars came, and Mezulbryst effectively merged with the infernal realm that the portal had opened to. The Ruins merged with Stygia. Iron City, the rivers of the underworld, and such, ended up on Mezulbryst instead, where they had been on the opposite side of the portal before. The entrance to the Abyss used to be north of Ameliel, where Shieltas is now."

"So, in essence," Jasmine mused, "This entire world is part and parcel of some version of hell?" She smirked and poked him in the shoulder. "Really know how to show a girl a good time, don't you?"

Sarril snickered softly. "Well, the worst of it got separated off again when the new Abyss was created," he said. "Most of what was left was pretty benign. And it's not like there was ever any of that 'eternal punishment' nonsense gig with the Elkandu. Well. I suppose being locked in stasis and forced to listen to rap nonstop would count. But."

"Hey, don't give people any ideas." Jasmine smirked. "The Bru might just think that's a dandy idea. Still, that's an odd bit of history, and somehow ironic that so many Kindred ended up on a former world of hell."

He chuckled, and steered their nightmare down to the south, where the River Lethe emptied into the Stygian Sea, following up its course into the only remotely lush area on Mezulbryst.

That came as a surprise to Jasmine and she pointed out the changing landscape curiously. "First time I've seen anything other than blasted and charred scenery here, what's with the veritable bonanza of life down there?"

"That's the River Lethe," he said. "Not sure why the plants like the alcohol so much..." He shrugged. Down past mountains and valleys they flew, and off a few miles west of the Lethe, they saw another city. "That's Schade," Sarril pointed out. "That's where the self-proclaimed Emperor Nero, a dreamwalker, sought to take over Mezulbryst..."

Plants thriving on alcohol? The thought of drunken flora was nearly enough to cause a fit of giggles, but Jasmine ruthlessly crushed it. "Nero, now that wasn't the best name to pick in the way of omens," she said. "Did he get the fiddle-playing part straight while the city burned down around his ears?"

"I don't think Schade ever actually burned down. Although he was eventually defeated by the necromancer Riven. Who soultrapped him and had a griffin eat him alive slowly."

"Sounds just like home," Jasmine smirked. "Minus the broad-ranging magical references and maybe adding in a dash more of sadism into it."

The Kindred were a bloodthirsty lot, in more than one way, and when you lived forever that tended to mean that grudges got held for a _really_ long time. Stew on that idea of vengeance long enough and some pretty inventive means for it were bound to come out of the woodwork.

"Fortunately for Riven, Nero got reborn as Soliaron, with a rather tamer personality, ... unfortunately for him, Soli was still a fricking dreamwalker, and now he was a nali -- a humanoid white tiger -- and happily took the opportunity to rip him into bloody shreds with his claws."

"I could see where blood feuds could get a little vicious with the rebirth angle thrown in," Jasmine agreed. "Bad enough for them to go on until one side or the other settles things, but when they can keep bouncing the ball back and forth over lifetimes? Eesh."

"Indeed." They passed over Schade heading west, and see another town which Sarril identified as South Toven. "The Temporal Convergence was particularly bloody... That was just plain confusing... eight timelines randomly merged, creating a bunch of duplicates of people... It really says something about someone when they're so paranoid of themselves that they're willing to go kill their alternates."

"That's just disturbing, is what that is," Jasmine responded, not wanting to think what that might have meant for some of the Kindred she'd known over the years, and she shuddered. "Talk about the stuff of nightmares. Elysium. Packed with eight duplicates of every sharkette. No, I think I'd have to kill them myself just for sanity sake!"

Sarril laughed aloud. "Oh, yes. Many people died. Some people who had died in the original timeline were effectively replaced by their alternates. And in the end, everything was neatly merged together again, and the surviving duplicates were generally smushed confusingly into one... sometimes with all the memories of them..."

Jasmine smiled a bit at nothing in particular, then hmmed as she thought that last through. "Had to be confusing. Very. Guess there's good points to being from a backwater world, eh?"

"Glad to be from another universe where Shazmar doesn't randomly get bored and play games?" he said with a smirk.

They were approaching Ameliel again, and the river Acheron.

"There's enough to worry about with people playing nasty little tricks as it is," Jasmine replied. "Not to mention the occasional really odd piece of business, thanks. So who's Shazmar, a local Meth?"

"I really ought not to have said his name," Sarril said. "Bad things tend to happen when you do that." He waited a moment, and nothing bad seemed to immediately be going to happen, and went on. "He's, well, effectively the closest thing the Elkandu have to a god. Except nobody in their right mind worships him, nor do most people not in their right mind, for that matter."

"Beware speaking evil's name lest you summon it?" Jasmine smirked. "Probably a good thing from the description, there's something to be said for avoiding the attention of people better left unmet."

Good policy overall, and she added his name to the list of ones to avoid speaking, ever. It was a fairly long one, the WoD having problems of its own in that regard, or maybe it was just paranoia.

"He has a very strange sense of humor. At the moment, I am surprised that there are no dildos falling from the sky or the river turning into cheese or anything."

"Oh great, a Malk in god's clothing," Jasmine muttered. "Mmyeah, I think I'll take that advice to heart and just say 'no'. So!" She looked deliberately, determinedly for another subject. "Where are we headed next?"

As they approached the river of lava, it promptly turned into a river of molten cheese. Sarril said, "Um..." There was the sound of child-like giggling from thin air.

Jasmine noticed both the change and laughter, leaned forward to whisper in Sarril's ear. "Ignore it, maybe they'll go away when they get bored. Hopefully quickly."

Sarril said, "Heh." After they crossed over the river and approach Ameliel again, it turned back into lava. Sarril brought them down to land near the stable where they'd started.

With no other oddities manifesting themselves, Jasmine left the thing behind her gladly. She climbed down when they land and walked halfway around the creature for a last, long look.

"Best parts of a car and an airplane, and great gas mileage," she said. "Should see if they have any back home."

Sarril chuckled. The drow showed up again to pat the nightmare and tend to her and thanked them for their business and hoped that they had a nice night.

Jasmine thanked the drow in turn, then walked away and stretched. "Mmm." Flicking her arms out once to settle the sleeves of the 'coat, she turned back to Sarril with a grin. "So, ready to run like hell to misdirect attention? With any luck we can be gone before we're noticed."

"What?" Sarril said.

He was already started strolling off down the road.

"I am _not_ going to name any names." Jasmine grinned, settling in place beside him. "Moving targets and all that. Works for our third mystery vampire, too." She still wanted to know where that information had come from, very strange.

"Wanna head back to Torn Elkandu?" Sarril said. "I think we've about seen everything of note here. For the most part. Unless you wanted to start poking around ancient demonic strongholds."

"Umm, remember what I said about that necromancer? I think I'll pass on poking my nose into that particular area, thanks," Jasmine replied dryly, then brightened. "Torn Elkandu sounds good, I can always drop back this way if I decide on a more-detailed tour."

"Oh, I didn't mean the Shadow Tower. Darkhammer used to have a stronghold in Iron City. Oh, Darkhammer, they were a faction of, like, demonic lawyers..."

He grinned coyly.

"Demonic lawyers..." Jasmine looked over at him. "Isn't that kind of redundant?" She chuckled. "You're playing native guide this time around, I'll play the part of good little tourist and let you stay on top."

Sarril snickered softly, "Back to Torn Elkandu it is, then." He Recalled.


	8. Undead Hangout

Jasmine returned and stepped briskly away from the Nexus itself, not wanting to bump into anyone else who came through.

While they were gone, apparently, Pyroluminescence moved their stage closer to the Nexus, and were assaulting everyone nearby with loud sound and colorful images.

"Ugh," Jasmine winced and went over to tug on Sarril's arm. "Pick someplace quick before I have to run back home for some explosives to put an end to all the noise."

Sarril didn't even spare a moment to examine the time zone clock, grimacing a bit, and teleported them to a place with some very brightly colored stars. "Fesirya Kren, on the world of Daresa."

Jasmine grimaced and rubbed the inner curve of an ear as though clearing it, muttered, "Note to self, pick up some ear plugs the next time I go through Torn Elkandu."

"Now you see why I've been preferring not to stay there lately," Sarril said. "Daresa doesn't have a sun either, nor any moons. And has a good deal less of a hellish background, so to speak, than Mezulbryst."

"I feel your pain," Jasmine agreed. "Literally." She shakes herself out and turns to the current source of interest, "How many sunless worlds _are_ there, anyway?" She could see a serious advantage to relocating to one of them, and considered the idea's merits and disadvantages absently.

"Three," Sarril said. "That I know of at any rate. And Straegarx may well have a sun, but nobody ever goes to its surface, if it even has one. It's entirely underground. The dwarves have a city set up next to the Sea of Fire, but there's a good portion of it that _doesn't_ have rivers of molten lava running around in it."

Jasmine smirked. "Yeah, the whole 'burning river of death' thing just doesn't work well for the Beast. At least Mezulbryst only has the one, and it's easily avoidable. So..." She looked around suspiciously. "What's the catch to _this_ world?"

"Oh, most of it is run by the shapeshifters," he said. "Most of them don't hang around the city here so much, though."

Jasmine nodded, mm-hmmed. "After Mezzy, I knew there had to be a catch someplace. Oh well, can't exactly hope for heaven on earth, can we?" She chuckled. "So what's the story on this city?"

"Fesirya Kren is the name of the city in the local language, it means Silver Towers," he said. "Millions of people living here... This was the city in which Aitur first rose to power and decreed that all humans must die. And added in dwarves, goblins, trolls and such too."

"Ah right, the guy you compared to Hitler," Jasmine replied. "Can't count it as all bad if he left behind a city that attracted that big a population when he was gone. Says something about design skills, if not social acceptability."

"Oh, it was already here when he was born," Sarril said. "I don't know when it was built, precisely. Up until the Planar Wars, there was a time field over all of Daresa, so that for every year that passed on Daresa, only a day would pass outside..."

"Out of curiosity," Jasmine glanced over at him with a glint of humor. "Is there a single world that hasn't had some bizarre, mind-bending, reality-defying freaky period in its history out here?"

"Sasherey," he said quickly. "But then, nobody ever goes to Sasherey, unless they really like blizzards, sub-zero temperatures, and the company of killer penguins."

Jasmine giggled, she couldn't help it, she hated sounding silly, but... "Killer penguins? Oh my."

He grinned, and meandered over to the railing to where they can get a better view of the towers. "I'm sure there's some others. Corstad, for instance, has been entirely covered by a city for as long as any one can remember, and still boasts the biggest mall in the universe where, they claim, you can buy absolutely anything..."

"Oh joy, just what the universe needs, more malls." Jasmine smirked and walked over to the railing to look out, at the many and varied spires of the city. "Wow, it's really beautiful." Just the sort of thing she'd expect elves to make, or whoever came before them that actually built the place.

Sarril grinned, leaning against the railing. "And Devenia... for at least the last five hundred years, it's been perpetually stuck in a bizarre approximation of twentieth century Terra -- Earth, that is. Well, at least if twentieth century Terra included 'travel angencies' run by mages, 'nature preserves' run by elves, and old necromancers in mansions with zombie butlers."

"Doesn't sound too different from home..." Jasmine replied, then turned the mirrored look his way. "Uhh, Terra, Earth, you rattled that off like there's a bunch of them out there. Are there?"

In retrospect it'd make sense from some of the things he'd said, including the alternate versions of the same people, but it was still strange... and she had to wonder what some alternate versions of some might be like.

He nodded. "There seem to be more alternates of Earth than any other planet, for some reason. There's a lot of them... seems nearly every universe has its own version of it... sometimes more than one, for some reason."

"That's just a little creepy, having come from one," Jasmine replied. "But I suppose that's what I get for making a devilish deal and taking a look past the apple tree. Hmm, almost makes you wonder if someone wasn't experimenting with the idea, or..." she grinned a bit, "If the conspiracy theorists are just going crazier than usual."

"Most of them split off most noticeably during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries," Sarril said. "Generally around the period prior to World War III."

"World War III?" Jasmine hmmed. "Never got around to that, thankfully, the Uni..." she trailed off and smirked. "Well, I guess that explains why my own variant split off. The Unifications Wars, where the shapeshifters rolled through and turned everything upside down."

"The Elkandu version of Terra got hit pretty nastily... nukes flying all over, which they say cut off the mana flow of the world. The mages tried something really crazy and desperate to 'fix' it and caused manastorms all over the world. The geography got rearranged, strange mutant creatures like the nirrils appeared..."

"Yeah." Jasmine nodded. "That's what people were expecting back home, too, on a really serious level from the fifties on when it started with the Russians and carried over to the Middle East toward the end of the century, then the European Union. Probably a good thing it didn't happen, there's no telling what would have come out of that much destruction with all the supernaturals running around."

"So when things like elves and werewolves and all showed up," he went on, "people just assumed they were more mutants as a side effect of all the ethereal instability around there... it took centuries for it to settle down."

"Heh, they didn't show up until after that?" Jasmine asked.

"Nope. You had the Elkandu running around at that time too... for some reason, they were using video games as a recruitment campaign for their various factions. I'm not sure how effective that was..."

Jasmine shrugged. "Wouldn't surprise me if they got a little success out of it, video gamers are some truly dedicated, one might almost say committed (or _should_ be), people. Then again, maybe not, that would probably have meant them getting out into the world beyond their basements, that probably didn't work too well unless there was some bribery going on."

"Apparently, finding out that they could learn to cast _real _spells was a real pull for some geeks," he said with a smirk.__

__"I could see the appeal to that," Jasmine agreed. "Just like the people who become sudden very real groupies when the Masquerade was blown. All of a sudden the goth fantasies were _real_ , oh swooon!" She laced her hands on her chest and swayed. "The once-misunderstood were now vindicated!" She made a gagging gesture and smirked. "Anyway. Yeah, I could see some falling for the hook even if the rewards weren't anything more than that."_ _

__Sarril nodded. "Oh, all their little factions... First they had the Drakandu, the Rezalkandu, and the Kalkandu. Which could get labeled, poorly, as 'evil', 'neutral' and 'good', sort of. Of course, the Drakandu pretty well favored free will, while the Kalkandu were fairly fascist about their 'good'ness, but..."_ _

__"So what was the whole point of this recruiting scheme?" Jasmine asked, leaning on the railing. "Why were the factions at war with each other at all, with all the worlds that seem to be out there? It'd be different if it was something more like home where people actually believe that's all there is, but..."_ _

__"It all revolved around Torn Elkandu," he said. "The other worlds were merely playing fields to capture and control as they would. Or, in the cast of the Rezalkandu, just to make sure the others couldn't capture them. But after the Elkandu Crisis, a bunch of other little factions sprung up. The knightly Eryckandu, the oxymoronic society of hermits, the Zenkandu... the nihilistic Nokandu... the caffeinated Mountaindu..."_ _

__"I'm not even going to comment on a couple of those names," Jasmine snickered, then nodded. "With the Nexus I can understand it then, that'd be a pretty important thing to have control of. So who ended up with the prize when it all settled out?"_ _

__"Nobody, really," he said. "They all went their separate ways for a while after realizing there was something wrong with the Nexus and it needed fixing seriously, so some were left to make repairs and adjustments... that was the period when Keolah lived on Wilderplane... Things were (sort of) peaceful during the age that followed, called the Age of Rogue Winds... Relatively speaking. Only one planet got turned to stone by a rogue creation, and only one entire species almost got completely wiped out..."_ _

__"Uh-huh," Jasmine replied, pursing her lips. "So who controls it _now_? There's got to be someone, or people would be fighting over it all the time, wanting it for _their_ use only, or whatever other silly ideas people come up with along the way to excuse a bit of land-grabbing."_ _

__"Well. The Elkandu Crisis was four hundred years ago. Now, two hundred years ago or so was the Planar Wars. The Elkandu managed to almost completely destroy the universe during _that_. The old factions were dissolved and five new ones took their places... Tempest, Darkhammer, Whitefire, Conclave, and the Watchers."_ _

__"Mmkay." Jasmine nodded, listening and putting the pieces together in her mind, though wondering how it related to the present as they'd already encountered, or he'd mentioned, two of the factions no longer existing._ _

__"Now, none of the Elkandu factions were exactly, well, discriminatory, so to speak. They were made up of mages of all types, shapeshifters, vampires, all kinds of things. But none of those five factions were really dissolved until the War of Planar Dominance, fifty years ago. Tempest destroyed the Watchers for publishing that the leader's wife wore pink frilly panties... Then Whitefire's headquarters got smashed apart by a Tempest agent... then Darkhammer's leader was backstabbed, again by a Tempest agent... Conclave surrendered to them so as not to get their asses kicked."_ _

__Jasmine just looked askance at him and smirked a bit. "So, in essence, none of the factions likely survived, if I get the gist of the unfolding plot. Am I right?"_ _

__Sarril snickered. "I'm getting to that. Tempest, you see, was about the worst faction to actually try to rule anything. Their motto was 'Freedom! Chaos! Beer!'. So they celebrated their victory by spending the next forty years partying, lounging around on beaches, getting drunk, and not actually governing anything. Which was just fine by most of the galaxy, to be sure. Conclave sat around reading and researching like they always do..."_ _

__"Annnnd?" Jance grinned, about ready to jab him in the side for drawing the story out, but not really minding. Not really. The night had been to nice overall to be _too_ snarky._ _

__"Then the Temporal Convergence came, two years ago. Well, one of the eight timelines was ruled by demons, so Ishane, the leader of Tempest, decided it would be a good idea to nip that in the bud, so to speak, and just nuke them to hell, no pun intended. So he did, goes off without a hitch. Then this pacifist Catalyst, Dante Brophy, decides to execute Ishane for mass murder, even if it _was_ murder of totalitarian demons. Tempest decided to dissolve after Ishane's death. More or less."_ _

__"Mmkay." Jasmine did a mental head count. "So that leaves what, Conclave?"_ _

__"Conclave, I suppose, is still together. But then, as they never actually _do_ anything, nobody really cares anyway. They just sit up in their tower reading books all the time... I suppose there's something to be said about pacifism, I guess." He shrugged. "On the other hand, they didn't really lend a hand when Chaos invaded the galaxy, either."_ _

__Jasmine _did_ poke him in the side with a grin. "So what's the answer to my question? Is it Conclave that controls the thing and patrols its use?"_ _

__"Nope," he said. "Conclave doesn't control a damned thing. At the moment, the one actually in charge of the Nexus and Torn Elkandu is... here you're not going to believe this... Sheniro. The lead singer of Pyroluminescence."_ _

__Jasmine made a face. "A member of that really loud, obnoxious band that we made a break from? Isn't it a requirement that any metal band member be so doped up that they can barely stand, much less control something like the Nexus?"_ _

__"Sheniro's a Speaker," he said. "He influences the attitudes and feelings of the people in Torn Elkandu through his music. Well, most people have to stand there listening for some while to really be affected by it. But he generally does that to make sure they aren't trying to kill one another, have orgies in the street, or whatnot."_ _

__"So..." Jasmine looked puzzled, then shook her head. "Okay, I'll admit it, I don't see the logic or reasoning behind that. Show the setup to an Elder and they'd probably pick it apart and see just what makes it tick and who gets what out of it, but I just ain't seeing it."_ _

__"Well, it's simple. People get to use the Nexus in peace and safety in Torn Elkandu. Sheniro gets fame, adoration, and girls throwing their panties at him."_ _

__Jasmine snickered, putting that in context with what she's familiar with. "Okay, I guess that makes sense, he's like a lot of Torries that would simply _die_ without their audiences."_ _

__Sarril chuckled, and nodded. "For all he's held that band together through... whenever he has to go solo, he just ends up sitting around playing melancholy flute music nonstop... which gets really old after a while. Not that the heavy metal doesn't get old too..."_ _

__"Makes for perfect traveling music either way," Jasmine quipped. "Keeps you moving fast right on through Torn Elkandu, though I'm sure the tourist business isn't necessarily happy about it."_ _

__"Normally they're nice enough to set up at one of the squares at the edge of town and not at the Nexus itself..." He shrugged. "So Sheniro runs Torn Elkandu, Streyka runs Lezaria, and who really knows for the rest of the planets..."_ _

__"Probably some sort of government type or other," Jasmine shrugged. "Though when it comes down to it there's generally one or two people, tops, who're really keeping it all glued together."_ _

__He gave a nod. "Generally. And likewise I'd generally prefer not to have to be one of those, since I hate politics."_ _

__Jasmine smiled crookedly. "You hate politics, yet you came over to Selenis? What _were_ you thinking? Sad to say, that's probably ninety percent of what Kindred _do_ with their lives, and what they've been at for however many thousands of years. A more cutthroat variety than the kine practice, to boot."_ _

__He shrugged. "Streyka tells me she generally abolishes laws more often than creates them. To quote her, 'Why should elves care what orcs smoke?'" He snickered. "I don't know. Variety? "_ _

__"Variety's a good thing." Jasmine nodded and looked back over the city again. "But give it fifty years and you'll be scrabbling at the walls to get out. I don't even want to think about the mindset of the ones who've been playing the games for thousands of years... heh, guess I don't have to in a lot of cases, many of those were on the fuzzy hit parade."_ _

__"Heh, there's always more planets to explore, more universes to delve into..." Sarril said thoughtfully._ _

__"Yeah, there are." Jasmine smiled quietly. "Thanks for showing me that, even if I did think you were crazy the first time out of the box. Just goes to show how stuck in our ways the Kindred are, when we'd through away an unbelievable gift like that." She shrugged._ _

__Sarril grinned. "I'd just never realized that there might be more than two kinds... the decent ones, and the crazy asses trying to kill me."_ _

__Jasmine snickered. "You're trying to tell me that there's more than that? Please! Spend ten minutes in Elysium and you'll see that your original assumption was right on the money. Or that you were only _half_ right." she smirked._ _

__He snickered softly. "So, let's see. We've been standing here for half an hour. I think 'irate vampire #3' is being slow on the job."_ _

__"Shh!" Jasmine scolded with a ferocious scowl. "Don't remind them! I'd be perfectly happy to let the night end without finding Mystery Vamp number three." Better ending to be had than that by a long shot, she grumbles inwardly._ _

__Sarril snickered softly and strolled off toward one of the "buildings" on the top of the tower. "Ah, look over there. That's the palace where Aitur ruled over Daresa... It's also where Darkhammer's headquarters was located at the end of the War of Planar Dominance..."_ _

__"The Mad Elf's very own treehouse," Jasmine commented, looking it over as she moved quickly to catch up and then settled into a companionable stroll beside. "Do they have a grand tour there, too?"_ _

__"I have no idea," he replied nonchalantly._ _

__The gates were open, not even actually guarded, and it appeared that the people around here didn't seem too keen on going near the place. Perhaps too many bad memories, or some superstition about it being haunted, or perhaps it _is_ haunted._ _

__Jasmine grinned and shrugged, then headed off in that direction. "Let's go take a look around."_ _

__Superstition she couldn't care less about, and haunting... well, she knew _that_ was real enough but what was a little ghost or two anyway? Sarril grinned and headed inside. The palace looked opulent enough, aside from being fairly deserted and in some state of disrepair. Some passersby glanced at them oddly when they saw them go in._ _

__"I'd guess they canceled the maid service," Jasmine remarked._ _

__She looked around at the scene and was inevitably reminded of some of the castles she'd run across when her Sire had dragged the lot of them along on a European tour, including all the 'highlights' of visiting various members of the clan. Eesh. There were signs of battles long gone by, scarring on the walls, some scorch marks, some of the vases were broken. There were old, dried bloodstains in some of the carpets, as well._ _

__"Clearly."_ _

__"And it doesn't look like anyone even really bothered to _loot_ the place." Jasmine shook her head in disbelief at that. "I can see them not bothering to repair anything, but not clearing the place out? Sheesh, you'd think there'd be enough desperate people since then who'd overlook a bit of old superstition in favor of profit."_ _

__Sarril snickered. "Don't know why it's such a mess, anyway. Streyka helped with the final shakedown, it all went by really smoothly. Oh, right, I forgot to mention she was the first wife of Tempest's leader..."_ _

__Jasmine did some mental math on that and decided not to comment, generally a wise thing when dealing with Kindred who were older than you. "Probably in a hurry." She shrugged and moved on to look around more. "Must have been a really popular guy with all the signs of violence."_ _

__"Oh, I meant Planar Dominance. Aitur was ousted the first time by Jami and Silver. They placed him in a stasis field in which he'd experience hallucinational nightmares reliving nasty things over and over. The trouble with that was that he got loose after the Planar Wars..."_ _

__"And was probably just a little bit peeved about the rude treatment." Jasmine nodded. "So he went back to his old ways and went on with the crusade to wipe out anything non-elf, or more likely, anything _including_ elves that got in his way."_ _

__"He was in a pretty messed-up state, to be sure," he said. "I'd tell you what happened, but I'm not too sure myself. Suffice it to say that he showed up again multiple times and tried to take over the universe, got killed, came back, got soulfired, somehow came back, got killed again, came back from an alternate timeline, got killed..."_ _

__"Persistent little thing, wasn't he?" Jasmine said. "And to think he could have put all that energy into developing new confectionary treats and ruling the hearts and stomachs of the masses in no time." She waved around at the place. "Tell me this wouldn't be better than a tree any day for cookie making!"_ _

__Yes, she was being a bit silly, but the idea of a jihad-leading elf was really, really bizarre! Sarril snickered softly. Up ahead, they came into a sitting room that was very cold. Ice crystals covered the furniture. Very odd. Cold didn't really affect Kindred like it does the kine, Jasmine knew, but it _could_ freeze them like a slab of beef if they spent enough time in it. She walked toward the center of the room to get a better look around, then glances over at Sarril._ _

__"What's up with _this_?" Jasmine wondered._ _

__She turned the various pieces of Auspex to full reach to see if she couldn't get any hint of just what was so weird here. It was definitely supernatural in origin. It seemed to be originating from the bedroom adjacent to the sitting room._ _

__"Interesting." Sarril mused._ _

__Jasmine scratched the side of her nose indecisively, then shrugged and went to follow what seemed to be the most likely source. Okay, so that might not be the most _prudent_ thing to do, but she did tend to be a bit more impulsive and hot-headed than her sib._ _

__Inside, she saw a skeletal figure sitting in a comfortable chair reading a book casually. Okay, that wasn't what she'd expected. At all. Carefully she walked over to see if this apparition was real, really doing what it appeared to be doing, or if it was just a trick of her mind._ _

__The creature was wearing tattered gray robes. He (well, it was hard to tell, but it _might_ be a he) looked up at her with glowing blue eyes. Sarril paused in the doorway._ _

__"Uh, hello," Jasmine managed, conscientiously avoiding meeting its gaze with the same reflex as with other Kindred, though she has _no_ idea what this... whatever you'd call it, could do. "We didn't expect to see anyone in here," she continued gamely. "Who might you be?"_ _

__"I am the Deathbringer... the Accursed..." said a hollow voice from the figure._ _

__"Well those are certainly cheerful titles," Jasmine replied, grinning a little at the sheer oddity of the situation and her own reaction. "So, Mr. Accursed Deathbringer, out of curiosity, was there a reason you picked this place to catch up on your reading? Me, I'm just a tourist going over some historical sites."_ _

__"It's quiet, and has a nice view, and the vampire and wraiths upstairs don't bother me."_ _

__Jasmine looked over at Sarril. "Vampire, wraiths, and whatever this is, I think I see why people normally avoid this place."_ _

__"A lich, I believe," Sarril supplied helpfully._ _

__"Lich, hmm." Jasmine looked back at the walking skeleton thoughtfully. "Yeah, it would pretty much fit the general guidelines. Well, I suppose that answers why there's an early ice age going on around here, sorry to have disturbed your reading." She smiled at the lich and backed slowly toward the door._ _

__"But," the lich said. "It's Ernest Hemingway." He held up a copy of "The Old Man and the Sea"._ _

__"My Sire made me read that once." Jasmine made a face. "I can't believe anyone actually reads it for _enjoyment_."_ _

__"Did I say I was enjoying it?" He resumed his reading._ _

__"Right," Jasmine said, then walked back out of the room and closed the door quietly behind her and looked at Sarril. "Who'd have thought that a lich would be a masochist?"_ _

__"I have no idea," Sarril said. "At least he isn't listening to rap music. Although if he were, that would explain why people are avoiding the place."_ _

__Jasmine snickered. "No, I think someone would have come around to finish the job of demolishing this place before now. Anyway. Hmm. Vampire and wraiths somewhere lurking about, maybe not such a good idea to continue this impromptu tour, huh?"_ _

__"Wonder why they're all hanging around here..."_ _

__"That _is_ a bit of a puzzle," Jasmine agreed, folding her arms and tapping a foot thoughtfully. "Of course the _smart_ thing to do would be to forget the question and go find somewhere else to poke around..." She grinned over at him. "However, I'm pretty sure the touristry laws have something in them outlawing using that kind of logic, so unless you've got something better in mind..."_ _

__"Certainly," he said, and went to look for the stairs._ _

__Jasmine might have thought of something better, but just kept the grin as she turns to head off after Sarril. Who knew, maybe it was something in the air that they might find useful, or some kind of weird artifact, should be interesting whatever it turned out to be._ _

__At the top of the stairs, they ended up in a dark room in which something attempted to pounce at them but ended up completely missing Sarril and ramming himself face-first into the far wall instead. "Ow."_ _

__"I'd guess this would be Mystery Vamp number three," Jasmine commented._ _

__Jasmine smirked, her eyes gaining a reddish glow as she activated that level of Protean against the darkness. No claws this time, she just moved to interpose herself and dropped into a ready stance in preparation for pummeling the poor unfortunate should they decide to be foolish._ _

__"How about you stay down," she said reasonably, "we talk, and then go on our way?"_ _

__Sarril said, "Yes... I do believe you need to work on your aim there a bit."_ _

__The vampire grunted softly and rubbed his face irritably._ _

__"So what do you say?" Jasmine asked. "Seems like a win-win situation, since you get out of a lot of pain and I don't have to clean any more blood off tonight."_ _

__He sighed. "Fine. Fine. Whatever. Talk."_ _

__Jasmine didn't trust that good will any further than she could throw the castle, but she eased a bit as she chuckled. "My name's Jasmine," she said, "And I'd guess you must know who you were leaping in the direction of before doing the face-wall plant, right?"_ _

__"Er, not really, no," he mumbled. "And my name is Phil."_ _

__"Tsk," Jasmine chided. "So you were just leaping at shadows? Shame on you. This is Sarril. Sarril, Phil, Phil, Sarril." she gestures to each of them at the appropriate point in the introduction, "Pleased to meet you."_ _

__"Well, there's not a lot of things that come up here..."_ _

__"Not surprising," Jasmine replied. "Even the few who _might_ come in here are probably a little put off by the lich downstairs, if nothing else recoiling in horror at his choice of reading material! Me, I'm just playing tourist with Sarril as my trustworthy and able guide, and little things like vampires don't bother me much."_ _

__"Oh, everything's fine here, don't worry," he said._ _

__"Oh I'm not _worried_ ," Jasmine responded. "I'm more _curious_ as to why this seems to be such a popular undead hangout. The lich mentioned you and also some wraiths hanging around up here, that seems like quite a turnout for a place like this."_ _

__"Oh, they don't cause any trouble," he said. "They just sit around and compose bad poetry mainly."_ _

__Jasmine winced at that but didn't comment on it, "And what do _you_ do up here? Has to be a bit quiet and lonely with no one else around to speak of, or with, or whatever."_ _

__"Oh, I'm just keeping an eye on things, don't worry, I've got everything under control here. Though I'm not sure where the bitch disappeared to..."_ _

__"You've got everything under control here?" Jasmine sounded puzzled. "I'm afraid I don't understand, just what _is_ 'everything' here? And who's the 'bitch'?" She smirks at that._ _

__"Oh, you know," he said. "The old werewolf. She disappeared a month or two ago."_ _

__For someone he'd just met, he was assuming she knew an awful lot, Jasmine thought to herself, then had an idle moment's amusement at the reference to a werewolf. Some of them probably wouldn't even take offense at the term 'bitch', certainly not the lupus, it was what the females _were_ after all. The human-born, well, they'd probably look at it a little more dimly._ _

__"Humm," she muttered. "So what was the fuzzy's name, anyway?"_ _

__"Shenzel Tirtas, of course," he said._ _

__"Oh, of course," Jasmine nodded, though she has _not_ a clue who that was supposed to be. "Well anyway, I suppose we should let you get back to keeping things under control here and be on our way. Nice meeting you." Absolutely _no_ idea what the man was rambling about, but he didn't seem inclined to expand on it either._ _

__"Certainly," he said. "Be sure to tell Vadrak I'm doing a good job here!"_ _

__Jasmine looked over at Sarril at the mention of the name, then back toward the other vampire. "We certainly will, we've been looking forward to seeing him again." _She_ wasn't, she'd be perfectly happy to leave it to the powers that be, messing with a meth was _not_ her idea of a good time._ _

__Sarril agreed, "Uh-huh..." and headed back out down the stairs. Once well out of earshot, he said, "Well, _that_ was interesting..."_ _

__Jasmine followed quietly after him and noded, keeping her voice low as she replied, "No kidding! What's the point of leaving these weirdos hanging out in bizarre locales, anyway? I mean, you've seen this place, there's really nothing worth _guarding_ here."_ _

__"I have ... no idea," he said._ _


	9. Going Shopping

Once outside the haunted palace, Sarril looked up toward the sky at the brightly colored stars again and said, "Well, back to Torn Elkandu I guess. Wanna go see Azale and ask him just what was up with that stupid horoscope?"

"Oh, you actually know the editor, eh?" Jasmine asked, then scowled as she rubbed her knuckles. "Yeah, I have a few _questions_ for him..." She grinned suddenly. "Just kidding."

Sarril chuckled. "Who doesn't? He's a bit hard to miss. He's kind of an idiot, though."

He Recalled back to the Nexus. Thankfully, the band had moved to Water's Square by now, at least. Jasmine headed back, and was pleasantly surprised at the lack of immediate aural assault. Oh there was nothing wrong with heavy metal or any of its cousins, really, but it could be just as annoying as rap when it came to shaking the streets. Yegh.

She walked off the Nexus after Sarril, looking around. "So where do we find him?"

"Knowing him, he's probably spending far too much time hanging around a bar..." Sarril headed toward the Crux.

"Another one of those..." Jasmine smirked and shook her head, setting off after him. "Y'know, Three Mysterious Vampires," she idly remarked, "Sounds like some cheesy Hong Kong knock-off that even Jet Li would turn down."

Sarril snickered softly. Sure enough, he spotted who he was looking for, and headed over to a table occupied by two guys with black hair, green eyes, and pointy ears. One was wearing a shirt that said "Don't worry, I won't bite. (Just claw.)", and the other was wearing a shirt that said, "I'm with stupid" with arrows pointed in all directions. Jasmine didn't remark on the appearance of either of them, though the first shirt was amusing on a Kindred level.

"Oh, hi Sarril," one of them said, looking up to them.

Sarril did some quick introductions. "Jasmine, this is Azale," he pointed to the guy with the "I won't bite" shirt, "... and Sedder," he pointed to the other. "Boys, this is Jasmine." They wave lazily.

"Hello," Jasmine offered in casual greeting, then grinned at Azale. "So you're the one responsible for the bad cinema? Least you could do is put in better directions with the next ad, had to look all over for the buggers."

"What?" Azale said in puzzlement, looking up from his mug of cherry mead.

Jasmine grinned, slid into a seat, and launched into a brief recollection of the Daily Seeker's arrival, the horrorscope, and the three contacts. Not overly detailed or guaranteed to put the crowd to sleep, more a short tale crafted to entertain.

"Oh, the horoscopes," Azale said. "I didn't write those... Mika did. Well, sort of. Kind of. Um..."

"Sort of, kind of, umm?" Jasmine prodded, enjoying the opportunity for a harmless bit of nose tweaking.

"Well, I'm sure that wasn't quite his intention, but I'm sure he'd know about it and come smack me if he didn't like it..." Azale said. "I just kind of, well, borrowed a spell for it and attached it to the printing press so it would spit out customized horoscopes for each subscripient. Subscriber. Subscribee. Er, what's the word?"

"Subscriber," Jasmine replied absently, quirking a brow as she got an image of this machine cranking out more-or-less accurate 'scopes for each individual reader like some kind of metallic, demented gypsy. "That's weeeird," she replied after a moment and looked at him. "And you don't think that's maybe just a little bit of a bad idea? Seems like you're just begging for trouble, to me."

"Well, hey, it's ... mostly accurate, but hardly set in stone, after all, they could avoid it if they wanted to. Or try to avoid it and end up causing it. Or seek it out and end up causing it. Or seek it out and end up avoiding it somehow. Or something else entirely random could happen. See, Mika did something that made it very hard to accurately predict the future..."

"Well sure." Jasmine nodded. "Never had any real use for the things myself, mostly just a bunch of catering to the ego and other useless crap. But what do you do when, oh, say a troll reads their personal 'scope for the day, ends up having a really bad one, and then comes knocking on your door to complain? Big, ugly, and bad-tempered, not exactly something _I'd_ want to see howling for my blood."

"Then I teleport him to the Abyss to cool off," Azale said, shrugging. "Wait. Trolls can read?"

"I assume so," Jasmine said, looking puzzled. "Just because they're big and blue doesn't mean they're not people or anything." She shrugged and grinned. "I suppose it's a good thing I'm just a harmless waif with nary a vindictive bone, the idea of being stuck in some pit doesn't sound too appealing."

"Although. If they got a bad horoscope and attacked me over it, they'd probably end up turning it into a self-fulfilling prophecy..." Azale smirked. "Not my fault some people have no sense of humor, eh?"

"Their own fault for reading the paper." Jasmine smirked, flicking a glance over at Sarril. "It's not like you hide who's publishing the thing, after all, or that people don't seem to know your general approach to things." Crazy was the term Sarril'd used, if memory served, and it seemed at least partially appropriate.

Azale smirked. "Well, hey, they don't have to read it if they don't want to, and it's not likely to be anymore accurate than the crap most papers spew, right?"

"True enough," Jasmine agreed with a smirk. "And the corps wonder why papers just don't sell like they used to. Tsk. Anyway." She got back up. "Suppose there's nothing more insidious afoot than a robotic gypsy, so I'll leave you to your obvious difficult preparations for the next issue."

Sarril said, "Azale, do you happen to know where Vadrak is?"

Azale shrugged. "I could look, I s'pose."

"Depending on where he is," Jasmine said. "I'm sure I know some people who'd be interested in hearing it if you find him."

"Hmm. Ah. No wonder you haven't found him. He's holed up in one of the old castles on Wegana, all warded up tight."

"Wegana?" Jasmine asked, looking from Sarril to Azale in hopes of a little more information than just some unknown name.

"It's a planet," Azale said. "Actually the place I had the misfortune of being born in my last life. Weird place. Lots of mountains and forests. Really pathetically pale sun. Old haunted castles."

"Sounds like a promisingly obscure location," Jasmine mused, gaze settling on Sarril. "Maybe he decided that it was safer to lay low for a while, rather than stirring up more trouble?"

Azale frowned a bit and said, "Hmm. I'm picking up an unusually high scattering of vampires around the galaxy too. Not any huge groups or anything, just a few here and there where there normally wouldn't be any. Now, a few, I'd write off as coincidence, but they seem very nicely well spread out..."

"Tourists maybe? Tired of the midnight to dawn grind?" Jasmine tried weakly, then made a face. "Right, and anyone who bought that would be a sure sale for this little bridge in Brooklyn, too."

Azale looked off for a bit, frowning thoughtfully, and said, "Hmm, yeah, they look like they've got the same Shadow Magic too."

"Don't suppose you'd be interested in a nice, long tour back home, would you? I hear Alaska's nice this time of year..." Jasmine grinned over at Sarril.

Sarril smirked a bit. "Any sign that they're poking into any other universes?"

Azale's eyes glazed over as he peered off. After several minutes, he said, "Hmm. Oh yes. Not as many, but they're definitely there... It's particularly easy to pick out in places like Karzan, where there _weren't_ any damned vampires before. Damned if I'm going to try to figure out if there's any of them in your universe yet though."

Jasmine sighed. "Well, can't blame a girl for trying. If we're going vampire hunting, I'm going to need to pick up a few things back home first." So much for the idea of setting up a nice, quiet retreat near Iron City or something, but... mm, could be worse.

Azale pulled out a device from his pocket and tapped at it and said to Sarril, "There, sent you a list of some coordinates you might want to check out if you're looking to go after them. You can tell those people on the 'World of Darkness' that they can find them themselves, I'm sure as hell not going to try to pick them out from all the other vampires around there."

"I doubt a Lasombra infestation is going to go unnoticed for long." Jasmine smirked. "Too many old grudges and reasons to keep an eye out for any survivors." 

Most Kindred still kept a mirror nearby for just that reason, even though the Sabbat as a whole had been wiped out decades ago... vampires weren't ones to forget in so short a span of time.

"And Streyka's keeping an eye on Lezaria..." Sarril mused. "And best notify any relevant parties..." He pulled out his computer and checked stuff and went to send off what he'd learned. "Though I guess we'll be staying here for the moment -- the sun's come up over there. Time flies?"

Jasmine blinked and looked at her watch. "Uhm, yeah, I guess there really is something about the cycle of the sun back home to account for it. I'm not the least bit inclined to drop off." That was an odd thought, maybe it had something to do with being tied to the world somehow? A point to ponder.

Sarril said, "Well, I've sent some cross-dimensional email over at least. So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

"I haven't had to think about that question in a really long time now." Jasmine hmmed, then shrugged. "There should be something to keep us occupied around here until we can head back. Really need to pick up a few things before thinking about the possibility of any serious fighting."

"The Corstad Mall?" he said with a smirk. "Hey, they've got useful things there too. Like... self-cleaning clothing, bags of holding, emergency pants..."

"A mall..." Jasmine made a face, "Well I suppose." she quirked a brow and smirked. "And I'm sure I'll regret asking, but... emergency pants?"

"Observe!" Azale said, happy to give a demonstration.

He stood up and suddenly razor-sharp talons grew from his fingertips, with which he ripped apart his own pants. Then he tugged something somewhere, and with a momentarily blur, fresh pants appeared on his legs.

Jasmine just watched the display in blank silence, blinking behind the dark glasses, and then looked over at Sarril. "Right, I knew I was going to regret asking."

Azale apparently failed to notice that he cut himself and was bleeding, as the red lines appearing on his pant would indicate. "Oops."

Sarril said, "Told you he's an idiot."

Jasmine looked over at the 'oops', and shook her head briskly. "I think your point is definitely made. Shall we?"

Sarril snickered softly.

Azale smirked and said, "Um. Heh."

"It was nice meeting you," Jasmine said, then grinned. "Sort of. Kind of. Um."

She tipped a casual salute and headed for the door of the place to leave the loon to his self-mutilations in private. Didn't want to think what the _other_ guy was like!

Azale blinked in a bit of puzzlement as she turned to go. Sedder snickered softly and elbows him. Azale said, "Er, what, you're _not_ going to drink my blood?"

Jasmine stopped mid-step and looked over her shoulder at him with an arch expression. "Why would I want to do that? I can get my food at the bar, and I save the fun stuff for non-crazy people I wouldn't mind spending the night with."

Sedder was laughing aloud. "Rejected!" he said. "Your attempts at getting a new girlfriend have failed again, cousin. Guess you're stuck with me, eh?"

Azale looked sheepish and sat back down.

Jasmine smirked, tossed her head, and stalked off, certainly not the first time she'd dealt with something like that... and, sadly enough, not even the most bizarre. She really needed to find a better class of people to hang around with.

Sarril was snickering softly as he followed her out. "Those two are something else," he said. "Oh, his last girlfriend had blood-bonded him... Heh."

Jasmine grimaced, losing a bit of the saunter as she looked back. "Ouch, guess I could've been a little less snarky back there, then. That's a really nasty way to go, unless it's a voluntary thing."

"It was," he said. "She was killed during the War of Planar Dominance though."

"Blech," Jasmine muttered, then shrugged it off. "Such is the danger of dealing with Kindred, you have to watch out for that third drink. So," she looked over at him, "What kind of currency do they use at this mall? I do most stuff with credit back home, not sure _what_ to do around here."

"Credits," he said, pulling out something from his pocket that fairly well resembled a credit card and flipping it over in his hand.

He didn't really care to explain about Elkandu Blood Mages just now. They were rare enough that it would likely never come up, and worked close enough to normal vampires anyway. For all he knew, the first vampire might well have just been an inborn Blood Mage or something.

If he _had_ explained it, Jasmine would have felt worse about the thing. The Tremere had been Blood Mages, from root to branch, and were high on the list of things her family had hated over the years and gone out of their way to kill. They weren't exactly missed much by most of Kindred society, or even their once-oppressed creations, the Gargoyle bloodline. Other than Stonehenge maybe, who missed dropping concrete blocks on em.

"Credits," Jasmine hmmed, looking over at the card as they walked. "And what kind of things can be used for exchange for them, or to get them in general? I kinda doubt the US dollar is real valuable around here." She smirked.

"Ah, don't worry, I don't exactly have any shortage." He grinned a bit, and headed over to the Nexus. "There's places there that'll buy just about any damned thing. And there's an exchange office too."

Jasmine snorted lightly. "Considering I don't have much choice, being daylight and all back home, I suppose I'll agree to that this once. I'm keeping track, though."

She strode off after him, her head splintered between a few different trains of thought all going in different direction and not making much headway. Sarril activated the Nexus and sent them over to Corstad. There was a silvery-blue moon hanging high in the sky overhead, and they arrived in a wide plaza near the vast mall.

Jasmine grinned, cocking a thumb up at the moon above. "I didn't expect to see other worlds, the colony ships seemed just a leeettle dicey to me, but I still figured that the old sci-fi shows had it wrong with all the different colors they made the planets and moons. Guess I owe an apology to the Trek geeks."

Sarril chuckled, and headed past the fountain and toward the array of glass doors that marked the main entrance to the mall. It was hardly peak hours, but there were still a number of people of various species meandering about here, though not as many drow as on Wilderplane and Mezulbryst to be sure.

If she wanted a menagerie, Jasmine could head back home and hit the Rack when the sun set. Yes, there were a few different species here, but the _really_ bizarre assault came when you took elements of the familiar and mixed them together with the freakish outsiders. Compared to that, the night's outing had been interesting and entertaining, but not all that startling.

"Sooo..." she said as they entered the place. "What person's bright idea spawned this marvel of mercantile might?"

"I have no idea," he said, strolling inside into the lit corridors of the mall.

Along the halls, brightly colored signs proclaimed any number of sales, advertised products that claim to do a wide variety of useful and not so useful things.

"And is the hype you'd mentioned true?" Jasmine asked curiously, looking around in passing at the various shops with varying degrees of interest from casual to dead.

"I'm sure 'everything' is a bit of an exaggeration, but they do have quite the impressive variety of things for sale," Sarril said.

They pass by a shop offering sale of enchanted containers, including bags of holding, coolers of infinite beer (with the disclaimer that it wasn't actually particularly good beer), wardrobes of color changing...

Beer, but not particularly good beer... the average redneck probably wouldn't even notice, Jasmine decided with a smirk. She had no idea what she was looking at, overall, otherwise she'd likely be drooling at the prospect of a bottomless container to lug things around in.

"Maybe," she replied. "But then maybe not."

"Considering all the other magic running around, it wouldn't be that tough to have someone like Azale to locate a special order item and then take the Nexus to go and get it. Attention!" She framed a square with her hands, as though looking up at the sign. "Anything you want, within an hour or it's free!"

"Azale doesn't need to use the Nexus," Sarril said. "He's a Traveler/Seeker/Psionicist. He's actually the best around at precision teleportation. That is, summoning an object from a distant location directly to where he wants it. I suppose they probably do use Travelers for shipping orders, though." He headed into the bag shop.

Jasmine chuckled, following him. "It'd make sense, and might even make their claim doable provided someone didn't just make something up to mess with them."

She'd deal with the magic angle as it came along, it didn't really surprise her much considering all the things that the fae, Kindred, and fuzzies could do, just odd that it seemed so much more... she wasn't sure how to pin the difference down.

There were whole racks full of bags of holding of different sizes and style, signs boasting 15% sales off theft-proof auto-searching bags, apparently.

"What's with the luggage?" Jasmine asked. "Seems pretty mundane to be sitting next to containers of infinite mediocre beer." She smirked.

"These things are great," Sarril said. "They'll hold nearly all you want to put in them that'll fit through the mouth of it, and these days most of them have at least semi-elastic mouths." He picked up one to demonstrate. "Weighs nothing, the auto-searching feature brings you the item you are looking for when you put your hand in..."

"Oh..." Jasmine looked at the things with a new respect bordering on worship. "Oh that's nice. Think of all the trouble I could have saved myself over the years lugging this, that, or the other thing around from one haven to another." She grinned at him. "I'll make it good to you later."

She started sorting through the selection available with an eye for flexibility and an inherent demand for _some_ degree of style. They were available in many sizes and styles from little pouches, pockets, to dufflebags, to backpacks, fannypacks, satchels, purses and such. Another sign nearby said, "Color can be changed free of charge with purchase on request at the counter."

"Never been much of one for a purse," Jasmine remarked idly as she sorted past the line of them. "I think I finally got it through Cordelia's mind, too, not about to change that now. Hmm." Pocket size, always handy, pun more or less unintended, and she set one aside for the little things that were always useful for keeping around. "Ugh, whoever came up with the fanny pack should be shot." she snorted, but added one after a second thought.

A satchel and a duffel bag later, a container for all occasions and possible uses... she glared back at the section of purses and snatched one of those as well, _loathing_ the things but there were times she couldn't get away with more informal attire.

Sarril laughed lightly at the array of things she'd picked out. Most Elkandu just carried around _one_ , sometimes with a spare. He was hardly about to complain, however. There was a blond human woman with glasses over at the counter with a cash register/computer terminal/or something like that.

Jasmine picked up on the general source of his amusement and grinned sheepishly. "You have _no_ idea how much _stuff_ I've carted around over the years!" She headed over to the counter with the collection, mentally tucking bits of this and that into the various bags already. 

The cashier looked up at the bags and said as she was ringing them up. "Find everything you need? Would you like any color changes with that?"

"I think I'm good," Jasmine replied dryly, then looked at the bags. "Umm, basic black should do for all of them really, nice utilitarian color and goes with just about anything." Not to mention it was harder to spot in the dark of night when one was skulking about, but no reason to point _that_ out.

"Fair enough, black never goes out of style," she said. "That'll be 910 credits." Sarril passed over his card and she swiped it through a slot and handed it back and said, "Thank you very much. Have a nice day."

Jasmine collected the bags, making mental note of the total for later, and headed back for the mall concourse.

Sarril headed out along with her, politely holding the door open for her, and headed off down the corridors again, strolling along and gazing casually at the shops. Knickknacks, books, clothes, hair accessories, jewelry...

"Good thing I'm not much of a clothes-horse or a general shopaholic," Jasmine said. "Otherwise I'd be up to my eyebrows in debt in no time here."

Practical was one thing, and she did enjoy the _occasional_ bit of shopping when it was time to update the wardrobe, but overall there was something scary about the ferocity that some people went about it with.

She promptly passed by a sign that said, "Self-cleaning clothing! Never get blood on your shirt again!" One had to wonder just _what_ the Elkandu do most of the time that would make that a drawing advertising slogan...

Jasmine pointed the sign out with a snicker. "Sounds like people around here are into the same line of work as the Kindred tend to be back home. Handy little invention, though, even if black tends to work just as well for keeping things a little less than obvious."

"They do tend to get fairly violent at times," he said. "And sometimes their accidents can be messy. But then, black is so cliche. Okay, so navy blue is _almost_ black I guess."

"Cliche maybe, but you can do so much with it!" Jasmine replied cheerfully. "And like the lady said, it never goes out of style. Just ask the goths and Kindred groupies, black leather, lace, and fishnet stockings are all the rage... and that's just the males!" She snickered.

"I believe I shall pass on the lace," Sarril said, strolling on by the jewelry store.

They were offering a 50% off sale on rings of levitation today. They overheard someone passing by and looking at that sign as saying, "Heh, don't get one of those rings. They screwed the things up. The rings levitate... but the rest of you just ends up dangling from your finger."

"Oh yes, definitely prefer leather and silk, personally, rrrawr," Jasmine replied and walked on, the overheard conversation bringing to mind the old principle of caveat emptor. Probably be a good idea to double-check just how truthful the advertising was on something before thinking about it... or have a helpful native guide to point out the red herrings.

"Levitation enchantments work better on shoes anyway," Sarril added as they continued on.

They next passed by a large furniture store with rows upon rows of tables, chairs, beds, sofas, recliners and such. Its advertised special today was, apparently, an amazing matching morphing furniture set... it shifted around from being a bed, sofa, chair, table, "and more", at the wave of a hand.

"What, you don't suggest levitation built into pants, emergency or otherwise?" Jasmine asked teasingly, the very thought was enough to be uncomfortable.

Morphing furniture... now that'd be handy in a small haven, or even as a novel approach to the secure cubby of one's sanctuary, but it seems a bit... odd.

Another window displayed more chairs and sofas, with the writing on the window stating, "Fur-Repellant Furniture for Pet Owners and Werecreatures". Jasmine grinned at that and made note for the holiday season, the caern would probably love a piece or two of that for the metis cubs and lupus.

"They really do have an, umm, interesting array of stuff here, don't they?" she commented.

Sarril nodded in agreement. "That they do."

Next down the corridor was a shop selling knives and swords. It advertised such things as "Dancing Scimitars", "Vorpal Katanas" and "Self-Slicing Kitchen Knives".

"Gah, I am _so_ never telling Nicholas or my Sire about this place," Jasmine stuck her tongue out in the general direction of the blade store. "Between the two of them they'd probably clear out the entire place's inventory."

Sarril laughed lightly. "Looks like they've got some competition, too." He nodded to the gun store across the hall. This one was advertising "Pistols of Infinite Ammo" and such.

Jasmine grinned, looking between the two. "Oh, I'd be tempted to get myself into trouble at one or the other, maybe both, if I didn't already have some special hardware that I haggled with the GWs over. Never stint on the tools you need to keep yourself alive."

Sarril grinned. The next shop down the row was apparently "Whips & Chains", an S&M shop. It had a very... interesting selection of items. Beyond that, it opened into the food court.

Jasmine gave Sarril an evil look, then grinned. "Nahhh, I won't put you through that, that'd just be cruel."

Sarril smirked. "Whaaaat?" he said.

Jasmine shook her head. "Wouldn't want you getting the wrong idea, at least not when there's this much open space to make a break for it."

She whistled a bit and angled off in the direction of continuing along the concourse. There was a staircase near the food court leading up to the next level. It wasn't particularly easy to locate and she'd almost passed right by it without noticing it.

"Hidden stairs to unknown destinations... at least there shouldn't be a fourth irate vampire in the works, or I'll have to go back and bloody Azale's nose," Jasmine smirked and took to the stairs.

Sarril said, "Wow, you found the stairs."

He headed up with her. In the immediate area visible from the top of the stairs, she saw a shop selling musical instruments, one selling writing utensils and stationery, a small first aid station, and a little tea shop.

Jasmine sniffed the air, the food aromas from below not doing much for her, but the tea smelled awfully good. It was like coffee, there were just some smells that stirred warm memories and made one want to curl up in front of a fireplace with a good book.

"Care for a spot of tea?" she asked with a horridly fake Brit accent.

Sarril chuckled and said, "If you like." He didn't sound too excited about it himself, but he was happy to accommodate.

"Nahhh," Jasmine replied cheerfully, not wanting to drag him off to another place of enthusiasm-draining abilities, and turned to head off in the other direction. "Maybe later. Actually just made me think of coming in after a cold night and warming up in the kitchen." She shrugged and dipped her hands into her pockets, casually strolling onward.

Sarril shrugged. "Whatever."

A little ways down the corridor, she saw what appeared to be some sort of brothel. "Hire our Well-Trained Sexual Servants" said a sign. Outside the doors, a naked succubus and satyr were standing around posing.

The succubus drew a moment of attention, if not for quite what the advertisers might have intended. "Probably a stupid question," Jasmine said quietly as they went past, pitching it to Sarril, "But isn't a succubus kinda... dangerous, bad for return business, or... something?"

"What do you mean?" Sarril asked with a bit of puzzlement.

"Err, well, maybe that's just folklore," Jasmine said. "But they're generally accredited with being on par with the preying mantis or black widow when it comes to their partners..."

"Oh," he said. "Well, not necessarily fatally... They just have to be careful not to draw too much energy."

Jasmine chuckled. "I guess that makes sense, though it'd seem to be a pretty risky gamble. But then that's probably part of the appeal." She smirked.

"Well, it's the same deal with vampires, I suppose," he said, shrugging.

"What?" Jasmine asked with feigned innocence and puzzlement. "There's nothing similar in that at all!" Actually, she felt a bit silly now for even bringing the thing up. All a matter of what one was familiar with on a day to day basis, she supposed.

Sarril snickered softly. "Iiiif you say so." He winked.

Down past the brothel, there was a glass door leading to an archway with a sign over it saying "To Hotel". Beyond that was a shop selling various scientific gear like telescopes, microscopes, glass tubes, and such.

"Hey, just because a little blood and pain are turn-ons doesn't entail sucking the life right out of someone!" Jasmine protested with deliberate absurdity, then just grinned and kept on moving. Looked like the upper level was dedicated to more lazy endeavors than your average power-shopper would be interested in.

Next along the hall were shops selling art supplies, flying carpets and broomsticks (this one next to a wide balcony with displays and room for easy test-flights), a "name shop" whatever that might be, and a little place dedicated entirely to kitchen utensils and kitchenware.

"Do the warnings about levitating rings and the like apply to those?" Jasmine asked curiously, pointing out the flying items shop. "Not that I'm tempted to risk my neck on a flying stick, just curious."

"They tend to work better than those improperly enchanted levitation rings, at least. The problem with the rings, I think, was just that the enchanter failed to compensate for the lack of spatial lift by creating a null gravity field around the entire user, instead of just the ring itself. That isn't really so much an issue with something like a carpet."

Putting a little applied science and combining it with his explanation, Jasmine nodded thoughtfully. "Kind of like the suggestion you made about the shoes. Since the lift is all from underneath, the problem isn't as critical... just don't plan on any loops or anything."

Sarril nodded. "Yeah. Good levitation shoes also include enchantments to keep you from accidentally tipping over, too. And the real fancy ones will even let you walk around upside down on the ceiling if you want."

"Think I'll stick with an airplane or nightmare for all my flying needs," Jasmine chuckled. "Seems a little safer overall. Even if a fall out of the sky wouldn't kill, it'd sure sting!"

Sarril chuckled softly and continues down the corridor. Around the corner, they saw shops advertising crystal balls, Tarot cards, playing cards, beads, and "recreational" herbs (with a painting next to the sign that makes it very obvious what they meant). Apparently this was the hippie section of the mall.

Jasmine rolled her eyes at the retro display. "I swear, will this stuff _never_ die off? It seems to make a comeback at least every couple decades since it first slouched out of the twisted imaginations of its creators. Bell-bottoms..." She shuddered.

He snickered softly. "Really makes you wonder..." He shrugged. "You could get lost in here looking at random crap for ages..."

"And let me guess, there's not a single map to be found." Jasmine smirked with a cynical twist. "That'd be about on par with standard advertising and merchant practices. Sucker em in, get em lost, and end up with all sorts of impulse buying." She chuckled and tugged his arm. "Let's get out of here. I'm sure this is killer for when you're looking for something, but just wandering around? Nah."

"Sure thing. Where to next? There's all the universe out there after all." He grinned coyly.

"Yes, and we're probably going to end up seeing a good part of it by the time we look at all the vampires Azale mentioned, I _saw_ that list," Jasmine smirked. "How about back to the Nexus, then someplace a little quieter that'll let me start packing a few things?"

"Sure thing," he said, Recalling back to the Nexus.


	10. Packing Luggage

Jasmine followed Sarril back to Torn Elkandu, but didn't leave the Nexus as she focused on resetting it to the destination she had in mind. Probably throw her for a bit of a loop, but it could be dealt with until nightfall. She reactivated it and vanished again after a minute of working to refine it, not really wanting to end up _outside_ while the sun was still up. She managed to end up exactly where she meant to be and not outside.

Their arrival point is a reservedly decorated bedroom, combining elements of the classical and modern in a strange but somehow fluid fashion. Jasmine grinned a bit as he appeared.

"Sorry, closest I could think of that was _sure_ to be sealed tight at any time of day."

She didn't head for the door or deactivate any of the security measures that went with opening the vault-like sleeping chamber, instead walking to open a panel in one wall.

"Come on," she said, motioning him to follow into the short passage beyond and to the stairs leading down, lights flickered on from panels overhead as they entered. Sarril didn't seem to particularly mind or care or make any comment, just heading on down after her.

"Ahab's probably running around somewhere, but he's used to me coming and going whenever," Jasmine said, descending the narrow spiral staircase that the hall leads to. Secret passages and stone spiral stairs, elements out of a classic castle but within a modern shell. "I mostly use the old place for some storage, and the occasional stay, it's too far out to be really convenient."

A door at the bottom opened out into a large room cluttered with glass cases and crates stacked in the corners and along the walls. She walked past the glass displays without a glance, though their contents represented hundreds of years of history that collectors would pay a body part of choice for.

"Who?" Sarril wondered, glancing about casually.

"Who?" Jasmine looked back at him, then remembered and replied as she continued on through the quiet maze at a casual pace, "Ahab's an old Brujah, he was really messed up by his Sire and ended up coming to live here after she got killed. Pretty nice guy if you can deal with someone that old and get past the fact that he has to drink Kindred vitae to keep going." She shrugged as she reached the end of the private museum and headed into the hall.

"What?" he wondered as he followed after her. "Why would..." He seemed fairly puzzled.

"Why would what?" Jasmine asked, making her way along one of the basement passages and stopping outside one door thoughtfully, then going 'nah', shaking her head, and moving on.

"Why would someone have to drink..." he trailed off. He knew what she meant, of course. They didn't say "Kindred" on Lezaria, they just called them vampires, but she'd used the words enough that he knew what she was talking about, he just didn't clearly understand why.

"Oh." Jasmine made a face as she stopped and tapped a code into a panel outside a door, then went inside. "Now and then the really old ones can't survive on blood from the kine anymore, just like a neonate can only survive on animal blood (blech! Who'd _want_ to?) for so long. His Sire was like that, and she was a nasty little thing that used him like a puppet, fed through him. He developed it because of that, I'd guess."

The room looked like a larger, more elaborate version of the office he'd met her in, including a workout mat, and there were racks of various types of melee weapons on the walls. She yawned a bit as she crossed to one of the racks and considered some of the choices.

"That just seems really weird to me," Sarril said.

"Yeah, it is, we call it Methuselah's Thirst," Jasmine said, then shook her head and went to the back of the room and another door where she put in another code. Kindred were nothing if not paranoid, even in their own havens.

This led to a smaller room with its walls covered in racks of ranged weapons, all of them except one anyway where there was a stand with a contrastingly fantasy-styled suit of armor on a stand.

"When his Sire got killed and he was free, he cut a deal with a few younger Kindred in the city to act as their protector in exchange for their vitae now and again," she continued. "Worked out pretty well for everyone involved, since it kept him from having to hunt and it kept them safe since their own Sires were dead."

"I see, I see," Sarril said, following along and looking at everything with a casual interest. "I think." He shook his head faintly.

"You think _that's_ weird, you should have seen the things that she had him doing." Jasmine shook her head and went to stand thoughtfully in front of the armor. "Caused a real uproar in the city, no one even knew there was a meth running around, much less _two_ of them. Really creepy since she was one of the 'no-no' embraces, she didn't look any more than five or six years old."

Sarril blinked slowly. "Five or six? That's crazy. Why would anyone do that?"

Jasmine ran her fingers lightly over the delicately constructed bluish metal with the same quiet awe she'd had ever since getting the thing.

"I spent some time talking to him over the years and wondered that myself," she replied quietly. "I mean, Nicholas and I got taken in when we were no older than that but it was eighty-plus years before our Sire embraced us...."

She shook her head and carefully removed the pieces from the stand to fold them on a small table nearby.

"The story goes back a long way, I don't think I'd believe it if it hadn't come from Ahab. Anyway, apparently her Sire was part of the mess with the First City and his childer were all killed during it. He went crazy and embraced her as a replacement of sorts, but she went equally nuts over the millennia."

"First City?" Sarril wondered. "What?"

"Oh that's some aaaaaancient history, or myth, depending on how you look at it."

Jasmine grinned over her shoulder at him, then laid the accompanying slender sword atop the armor and turned to the more modern and noisy weapons to start filling out her choices for the expected jaunt with quick decisiveness.

"Caine was just thought to be a legend by most of us too, at least until he wiped out the Tremere overnight. Supposedly he was cursed by God for slaying his brother Abel and ended up being the first of us, doomed to walk the earth to remember his sin." She shrugged. "Anyway, along the way he started to feel lonely and created the second generation, and they built the First City to honor him and start creating their own lines of childer. The third and fourth generations are where trouble started, naturally."

Sarril listened, trying to absorb what she was saying and looking very confused. "I've generally found 'myths' tend to have at least a seed of truth to them. You know where the 'Children of the Dragon's Blood' came from? It wasn't originally just meant as poetic. They say around three thousand years ago, a dragon turned herself into a very beautiful woman and, well, mated with the elven king..."

Jasmine smirked. "The Gangrel have a story like that too, though most of them don't believe it and th fuzzies would probably get reeeeally pissed off about it..."

She stepped past him with a polite 'Excuse me' and went to a corner of the room to drag out a large-ish metal case and take it back to sit by the gathering pile of stuff.

"The story goes that Lillith met up with Caine before he became a vampire, that she was actually responsible for him becoming one in fact, but the weirded out part says that she mated with Caine and gave birth to the Gangrel _and_ the Garou. That's one that I'm pretty sure is a leettle bit far-fetched. Caine, yeah, he's real and scary as hell, but where the truth of things really is? He's not saying."

"Sometimes," Sarril said, "There are Elkandu who are inborn with something they call 'Blood Magic'. They're actually alive, but they have a lot of the same abilities vampires do... including, apparently, the ability to create more vampires..."

"Blech, sounds like the Tremere," Jasmine replied with genuine disgust and loathing. "They weren't even descendants of Caine, they created their clan through some sort of ritual. Glad the bastards are gone, and I _know_ the Gargs don't miss them any more than my family."

She cracked open the metal case and pushed the lid back to examine the neatly stored multi-part rifle within before sealing it again and adding it to the duffel.

"They're extremely rare," Sarril said. "Ones of any real power only show up around once a millennium, and the crappier ones usually just get mistaken for Water Mages. The last powerful one that I know of was Shai Zanite..."

"If they're anything like the Warlocks," Jasmine snorted, "Best that they are." She smirked. "Though they were starting to have some problems with the disciple of Counter-thaum making the rounds through some mysterious fashion." That was a nice little discipline to have when the blood mages were around.

"Well, I wouldn't know anything about these Tremere to compare, but just as well. Remember Azale's last girlfriend I mentioned? That was her. Shai Zanite."

"Definitely sounds like something they'd do," Jasmine replied. "So I guess that's something to keep an eye out for when I'm running out and about. Maybe add a few pennies to the collection."

She grinned at that memory as she took down a holster with a heavy pistol in it, wraps the supple leather straps around and tucks it into the duffel as well. No ammo needed, she'd made enough friends for that, even the special stuff.

"Yeah, she'd had a hold of Sedder at one point too..." He paused and made a weird expression. "Apparently she thought Dragonblood tasted like dark chocolate."

Jasmine looked up from zipping the duffel shut, "Ummmm." She grinned, shook her head, and lifted the bag to sit over her shoulder as she straightened. "I'm sure you've noticed that everyone's vitae has a unique flavor," she replied neutrally. "Not surprising to find someone comparing it to a sweet treat. Err, that is..."

She cleared her throat and turned her back to collect the armor, draping it over an arm and taking the slim sword in hand.

"I think that's all I need," she said, turning back with determined cheerfulness. "Other than figuring out what may be used to drum up a few credits for my debt, that sort of thing."

Sarril chuckled softly. "Ah, don't worry about it. What, you don't mind just running off into uncertain danger on short notice?"

Jasmine smiled. "No, that's one thing my Sire drilled into both of us, all part of the honor thing he picked up back in the dark ages. You always repay your debts." She walked over to stand near him, smile twitching with amusement. "And why should it bother me? Being a ghoul to an active Torrie Elder for a while _does_ tend to leave you a little bit on the flexible side."

"Heh, nothing, just reminds me a lot of what any Chelseer would do," he said. "I should know."

Jasmine grinned and shrugged. "Work for my Sire, work for the Prince, there's never been any really long periods where things have been quiet anyway. Goes with the territory." She stepped past him and back to the outer room. "So what kinds of things tend to be worth a few credits here and there? I'm sure I can dig a few things out of the museum or storage."

"I've seen them take just about anything," Sarril said, shrugging.

"Well _that's_ helpful," Jasmine chuckled dryly. "I'll grab a few things on the way through then, and we can take a bit of a break until the sun sets. I'd like to catch a shower and a bit of a nap, and I should really give Cordelia a call and let her know that I'll be out and about for a bit."

Sarril nodded. "Certainly." He gave a faint grin. She did remind him a bit of Streyka, he thought.

Jasmine led the way back through the halls and stopped in the museum to look thoughtfully around, though she didn't _touch_ any of the glass display cases.

"He'd kill me if I got rid of any of that." She smirked, then headed to rummage through a crate or two. "My Sire's a real collector, either stuff that he picked up personally over the years and used or that he's found since. The Templar stuff is all his own."

"Heh. They'd probably give more, anyway, for stuff they _don't_ actually have there, too," he said. "They do claim, after all, to offer _everything_ , and you come up with something that they don't offer, well..."

Jasmine divested herself of her load, folding the armor neatly atop the duffel, and started digging through a crate that she could swear... "Ah-hah, here it is," she said, dragging out an old book with an elaborately decorated fantasy cover, the colors as bright and vibrant as they'd been when they were first set in place. She propped herself against the crate and started paging through it.

"There's a story behind this, just like everything else down here," she went on, "Though it's one that my Sire deliberately buried since it had to do with ghosts." She grinned, looking up from the book. "He doesn't deal well with some of the changes that have come over the world, or more accurately they remind him a little too much of how some things _used_ to be."

The book was one of fairy tales, a very special volume of them indeed. Magic of some light and airy flavor danced around the book and seemed to bring the stories within to delightful life as the creatures curve along the edges of the calligraphed writing.

Sarril glanced it over curiously, quirking an eyebrow at the thing. "Interesting," was all he said.

Jasmine paged through the book, lightly touching a delicately etched picture of a dragon here and a unicorn there, succumbing to a hint of the Toreador fascination for a little while.

"There was something about it that dealt with a ghost who haunted here for a while," she said absently, "Though he never would say just what it had to do with anything." She reached the last page, treating it very gingerly.

The final sheet was charred and blackened in a circle that seemed to have spread from the center of the page and eaten its way out, devouring whatever may have been there all the way to the remnants of the fanciful border at its edges.

"Funny thing is," she went on, "I got the impression that it had something to do with why the fae gifted all of us, though _they_ wouldn't say either." She smirked and glanced over at him as she closed the book gently. "They just had that smug expression that was just _waiting_ to say something, but they wouldn't say anything unless _he_ asked. Well, _he_ didn't want to know, didn't ask, and left Nicholas and me to try and puzzle the mystery out over the years to no success."

"Wait... the fae gifted who with what?" Sarril wondered.

Jasmine pointed to the armor and sword. "They gave each of us a set of that, protects better than anything else I've ever run across. Too bad I feel like some sort of fantasy character whenever I wear it, it just seems to beautiful to use..." She smirked. "Not that I haven't now and then, mind you, and the elf blade is a _lot_ tougher than it looks. Wish I knew _why_ they'd done it, though. Seems like such an extravagant gift for something I don't even know about."

"Weird," Sarril said, shrugging a bit and looking at them thoughtfully for a moment.

Jasmine looked at the book again, then shook her head and slipped it back into the crate. "I don't think I could get rid of that, there's plenty else around here to choose from."

She ended up choosing a matched set of daggers of unknown origin, seemingly picking them at random but Sarril could readily see the threads of magic woven into them. There were actually quite a few things down here that _are_ magic, to one degree or another.

She slipped a couple more items into the duffel, then hefted it again and headed for the hidden stairs at the far end. "Anyway, let's get out of this crypt."

Sarril didn't argue, heading out after her pensively. "Fair enough," he said.

Back up the stairs to the sealed haven, Jasmine deposited her load near the bed and headed for the walk-in closet. "Make yourself comfortable, I'm sure the automated system is still working if you want a bit of vitae sent up. Hospital food, but it works."

Sarril silently wondered why she calls it 'vitae' and proceeded to make himself comfortable. He took a seat somewhere and went to close his eyes just for a moment...

Jasmine dug out a few things, left them on the bed, then headed off for the shower. She glanced over at her guest and decided to go to mostly quiet mode, no reason to disturb his rest... other than he was probably going to wake up with a sore neck. Shaking her head, she disappeared into the connected bathroom and enjoyed a leisurely hot shower, taking some time to wash out the hair dye in the process.

Sarril dozed quietly, not even noticing that he had fallen asleep.

Jasmine emerged a while later, smiles as she saw he was still asleep, and quietly went to snag a pillow from the bed to prop his head against, careful of waking him. Done, she slipped into the bed and curled up for a nap herself, the last hours of the day weighing heavily on her already and she dropped immediately into a deep sleep.

That sleep ended just as quickly some time later as the sun began to set, and she yawned and stretched languidly, gazing fuzzily at her surroundings without instant recognition.

"Mmm," she murmured, curling up on her side and clutching her pillow. "Been a while since I slept here."

Sarril woke shortly with a snort and a bit of a grunt, clearly not having remembered even falling asleep, and he blinked a bit as he noticed the pillow. "What? Oh, did I fall asleep?"

"Mm-hmm," Jasmine replied softly, looking over through slitted eyes, then reached up to brush a strand of the ever unruly chestnut hair out of her line of sight. "Daytime will do that to you."

He stood up, stretching. "Mm, right. So did you get everything you wanted?"

Jasmine yawned again, thought about it a second. "Not quite, but I'll manage," she replied with a lazy grin, then sat up, drawing the covers around her. "Give Cordelia a call, get dressed, and we should be good to go," she continued in a much more business-like fashion and reached for the bedside phone.

Sarril nodded, pulled out his computer and checked his email... and was surprised at how quickly he picked up _that_ habit...

The call to the Prince was pretty short and to the point, Jasmine was unsurprised that Cordelia did little more than wish her luck. She smirked at the receiver before returning it to the cradle, then got up, grabbed the armor and the other things she'd collected and padded off to the bathroom to get dressed. The image she'd complained of as being from a fantasy novel or film was pretty accurate as she emerges a little while later.

Her armor was a custom-crafted design and was accented well by an elegantly flowing cloak that can be swept back or allowed to encircle and conceal her entirely. It had a hood as well, but it was difficult to distinguish from the folds of the cloak itself at first glance. A diadem completed the ensemble with a blood-red jewel at its center and the band circling her brow to sweep upward in delicate wings.

"Don't you dare laugh," she warned as she walked over to collect the sword and return it to the sheathe at her waist.

"The sad thing is that you won't stand out at all in Torn Elkandu," Sarril said with a grin.

"Well that's a plus, at least," Jasmine groused, though her heart wasn't really in it. "Let's drop by the kitchen and then we can hit the road, sound good?"

Sarril nodded, pocketed the device again, and said, "Sure thing."

Jasmine stepped over to the main door and entered a long code, then waited as a series of quiet thunks and whines sound, the door finally swinging open a minute later... the thing probably had a foot thick and a heavy metal of some kind, with inset holes that probably had bars driven through them to seal it solid and seamlessly with the wall. Kindred paranoid? Not really, not when they _were_ after you!

She headed out into the mansion proper, leading the way down a marble-tiled wing until they reached the central downward-sweeping staircase. She dashed down them and paused near the entrance to a study, rolling her eyes as she heard 'Rooby-rooby-roo!', and called out "Hiya Cat!" before continuing on.

Sarril followed her out, impressed by the amount of mundane security with nary an inverted, multi-phasic buffered selective ward in sight.

Nope, all the protections immediately apparent were completely mundane, though there were a few things on the grounds themselves that had been installed by the Garou while Nicholas was still living here. That, however, was a long and somewhat bizarre story that had nothing to do with their trip to the kitchen and procuring some food in the way of blood a la bag.

Jasmine wrinkled her nose as she dragged a cold case out of the refrigerator and took a couple bags for her own use. "May as well top off your blood pool," she said to him, motioning to the case and then going to warm her own 'hospital food'.

Sarril shrugged and followed her lead readily enough, not really caring too much at the moment. A strange setup, he thought.

Jasmine didn't warm it much, just enough to take the real chill off, then went about dragging some chocolate ice cream out of the freezer and tossing it into the blender along with the contents of the bags. She added a dash of a couple other ingredients, then poured the stuff out into a metal tumbler and took a sip.

"Chocolate malted," she murmured. "Best way to start the day."

Sarril looked at her like he thought that was really weird, but didn't say anything. "I've noticed the local dialect seems to be a bit odd," he commented instead. "You say things like 'Kindred' and 'vitae', heh. Where'd that come about?"

"Umm." Jasmine thought about it and hopped up on a stool near the counter. "Kindred is actually fairly new, as far as things go, think that came around about the time that the Accord of Thorns formed the Camarilla and the Sabbat split off. Before that they just called each other Cainites." She smirked and took another drink. "Some of the old ones like my Sire still think in those terms. Vitae..." She frowned thoughtfully. "Not sure on that one, though it probably goes back to the dark ages someplace at the least, when Latin was more prevalent." She grinned. "All sorts of traditions running around, not just the Six and the unspoken Seventh."

"Camarilla? Sabbat? What?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "That anything like the old Elkandu factions or something?"

"Something like that." Jasmine nodded. "They formed back in... the 1400s someplace, can't remember what year the Accord of Thorns was signed. Anyway, the Camarilla wanted to change some things and implement the Masquerade, where we hid from the kine up until the Awakening shook things loose. The ones who formed the Sabbat wanted nothing to do with it and went their own way. Couple of the old clans went over to the Sabbat entirely, including the Lasombra and the Tzimisce, but there were representatives of the rest of the clans there too." She grimaced. "Their disregard for the Masq caused all _sorts_ of problems, especially when they were doing things that were bound to draw police attention on a grand scale. Things like killing people in the streets or playing polo on horses... through a hospital. Real nice people." She smirked. "And we won't even get into the Tzimisce, who crafted the flesh of others either for fun, profit, or in some really gruesome experiments. The Toreador who went over that way ended up being pretty damned nuts too... torture as an art form. Yick."

"I see," he thought, particularly glad at his efforts to disassociate himself from them. "These Tzimisce sound kind of like... Harmony Kimchild. You probably don't want to meet her, but if you ever see anything full of tentacles and eyeballs, that's probably her."

"Blech, sounds about right," Jasmine replied. "Though some of their absolute weirdest stuff couldn't really be described as 'living' anymore, not in any sense I could see anyway. Worst I saw had to be this thing that had once been human, and was clearly still at least somewhat conscious of what was going on around it... but it was nothing more than a flayed skin." She looked at her malt, then shrugged and took another drink.

"Oh, and don't say her name in the Elkandu worlds either. She got Sardill to put a spell on her that lets her instantly teleport to anyone that mentions her by name. Thankfully it doesn't work cross-universes. It even does it across wards that would normally keep people out..."

"I'll keep that in mind, add it to the list with the other name not to be mentioned." Jasmine smirked. "Any others I should be aware of, or just general things I should keep an eye out for?"

"Well, Sardill was never really someone you'd care to meet, either, but he generally just sat around in his basement for long periods of time getting drunk rather than actually doing anything, then cursing anyone who accidentally knocked over his beer or something. He did a lot of random and bizarre curses..."

"Right, so Sardill's someone to avoid." Jasmine nodded. "Check."

She drew in the last of her malt in a few long swallows, not wanting it to get warm enough that it'd be disgusting. She missed some of the things Nicholas did to make the liquid protein diet more palatable, but he seemed to be quite happy in New York lately...

"I haven't seen him lately, though," he said. "Supposedly he went off to be a 'good' deity or something weird like that, at the last competition. I'm not sure I'd count on it too much, though. Oh, and Jami? Just stay the hell _away_ from Jami, unless you like your brain being ripped inside out and thinking you're a chicken."

"Lovely," Jasmine replied, hopping down from the stool and crossing to the sink to rinse the tumbler and blender out. "There's ways of dealing with stuff like that, but definitely better to just stay away from it when possible."

"He's the second best of the Elkandu psionicists," Sarril said. "The strongest and most skilled is Angelita, the only one known to be able to beat Jami in a contest of pure Mind. Angelita is also the only one of them who is completely immune to Speech. Azale's the third -- he's also the only one of them who can lie undetectably even to a Speaker."

"Well he can't be _that_ much of an idiot then," Jasmine snickered, turning the water off and walking back.

"He's not really an idiot, so to speak," he said. "He just knows better and does stupid things anyway. In other words, he's a Chelseer."

Jasmine folded her arms and smiled a bit. "And why does that name seem to work so well for some and then go in completely random directions with others?"

"Heh, don't look at me, I didn't come up with it," he said, shrugging innocently. "Ready to head back to Torn Elkandu now?"

"Just about," Jasmine replied.

She ducked down to open the duffel and took out the heavy pistol she'd stored the night before. She slipped the straps over her shoulder and chest, the holster nestled under one arm, then tightened the bindings with practiced familiarity. Letting the cloak sweep forward, she snagged the bag in one hand and offered a nod.

"Ready, willing, and able."


	11. Eyes of Truth

Janice Recalled, and Sarril appeared in the Nexus a second later, and grinned.

"Well, now all we need is a cleric and a bard," Sarril said.

"What?" Jasmine looked at him strangely, not catching the reference at first, then smirked. "Oh, that whole D&D thing from back in the 80s, or whenever it was. Right." She rolled her eyes and stepped away from the Nexus. "So anyway, where do we begin?"

"Hmm, Eyes of Truth sounds like a good place to get our bearings, I think. I've no idea how any of the stuff there works, but at least it's all voice activated, eh? Maybe there's some more useful stuff up there too..."

"Eyes of Truth... wasn't that the ship you said you'd connected to with your cellcomputerphone-thing?" Jasmine asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. Suzy's spaceship. I have no idea _how_ she built the entire thing from scratch single-handedly in two weeks..."

Jasmine chuckled. "Sounds like a reasonable place to start looking, if the stuff I've seen so far is any indication. Okay, so where is it and how do we get there? The Nexus?"

"Certainly." He activated the Nexus, and they came out at a room looking strikingly like a Star Trek transporter room. "Here we are," he said, heading for the doors to the bridge.

Gaming trends Jasmine might have no clue on, beyond the basics that anyone might, but television and movies, oh yes, those she'd devoured hours and hours and hours of over the years, generally in the company of her brother. She grinned as she followed him, looking around at the familiar-looking scenery and wondering just what universe this design had come from.

When they emerged on the bridge, at first glance it appeared that there was a space battle going on, but after a moment the truth became clear: The redshirts had been watching "Return of the Jedi" while nobody was paying attention, on the main viewscreen. Jasmine wasn't fooled by the display for a moment, recognizing the scene instantly with the same certainty that any other moviephile would have and had to chuckle.

"Nice widescreen," she commented to Sarril, indicating the display with a tilt of her chin. "Just like the real thing, but where's the popcorn?"

One of the redshirts held up a large tub of popcorn and said, "Replicators."

Sarril snickered softly.

Jasmine grinned and rolled her eyes. "Would've _killed_ for this setup back in the day, come to think of it it's still pretty posh, hmm..." She looked around with a deliberately thoughtful expression, then waved a hand. "Nahhhh, it'd be a pain to get the blood out of the upholstery. So! I assume we're here for the computer?"

Sarril grinned and headed over to the side, where there were terminals lining the walls. "All right here," he said, giving a sweeping gesture. " _I_ don't even know the limits on what this thing can do..."

"Well we're just going to have to find out, aren't we?" Jasmine replied.

The technophile inside was gibbering with glee at the prospect presented, and set about taking a look at what control menus were presented before resorting to the ever-present and 'cheap' Star Trek expedient of voice control. They used perfectly-reasonable control screens in TNG, after all! A menu popped up with various options, some of which sounded very exotic. 

Sarril said, "Guess so. Although it's more convenient than poking Azale for 'where is this guy now' I guess."

"Hummm," Jasmine murmured, looking at the menus, then looked over at Sarril. "Gimme your cellcomp, I'm curious to see just what can be accessed through it. Might not have to come _here_ at all, depending on what kind of restrictions they have in place."

Sarril pulled it out of his pocket and passed it over to her.

"Let's see just how intuitive and comprehensive the interface is," Jasmine said, taking the thing and setting it near the terminal to start poking through it.

It wasn't too difficult to figure out. The only problem with trying to rely on the Eyes of Truths' sensors was that they either couldn't get through anything decently warded, or didn't allow peons like them access to that information. Jasmine took a little time with it and finally shrugged a bit, sliding it over for Sarril to take a look.

"Well, on the plus side, I'm not seeing any real difference between what we can access here and what's available through the cellcomp. On the downside, it would seem that Azale's probably a better source in some instances due to sensor limitations or access restrictions."

"Not surprising," Sarril said. "He _is_ the best damned Seeker out there, hands down, with the possible exception of Keolah. But I'm sure as hell not dragging him along."

"Aww, why not?" Jasmine teased. "I'm sure you'd make a lovely couple." She snickered.

"He'd probably try hitting on me, ugh," Sarril said. "He likes men better than women, too."

"What's wrong with that? I do too..." Jasmine stuck out her tongue, then smirked. "Seriously though, without dragging him along (preferably bound and gagged), we can probably still deal with a lot of the list he passed on to you. Some of it, though..." She hmmed, shook her head.

"We'll manage," Sarril said. "Well, until Mr. Tall, Dark, and Sinister decides to make some replacements."

"Wait a second," Jasmine said, thinking. "Didn't you say that the reason you headed off to home was because you'd met Falk? As in, out here, doing stuff in the Nexus and elsewhere?"

Sarril nodded. "Yeah. I met him in the Crux, actually. Why?"

"Well, let's just say he has a reputation back home," Jasmine replied. "And it's not a good one in Kindred circles for the most part. That's mostly because he _scares_ people. Badly. There's been too many rumors floating around about meths going missing with his name involved someplace. If he's already been out _here_ , he might be a really good one to crack the top nut."

Sarril raised an eyebrow. "What, he seemed right friendly enough to me..."

"You're not like most Kindred." Jasmine smiled a bit. "You probably didn't even get a look at what he's like when he's working, he's like... I don't know, like a shark. Snapped someone's neck in Elysium at a court without batting an eye, then made sure they didn't heal for a month. I heard he had to re-break it three times before the Bru got the point. And that's not even counting the rumors of other things... Meths are big, nasty things, right? Rumors tie him to the deaths of twenty or more, and he's supposed to be younger than _I_ am. Not that there aren't rumors that deny that Woods was even his Sire to begin with. Kindred don't like mystery, and he's a big one, not the least of which being that he doesn't _care_ about the politics that the rest of us have to deal with for survival. It's like they can't touch him... And I'm rambling, aren't I?" Jasmine grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, he's been a Kindred boogeyman for a long time now."

"I'm not even sure what you've been meaning by 'meths'," Sarril said.

"Methuselahs, like Ahab," Jasmine replied. "Over in the States that usually counts when they hit a thousand or so, but a lot of the really _old_ ones are over in Europe or other parts of the world. Set, for example, goes back to Egyptian mythology... or at least he did, again with the rumors. Heh."

"Oh, I see. Most of the Elkandu are under a thousand years old... three of them are around ten thousand or so. Sardill, She-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named, and Amanda Kimdaughter. And the latter is the only sane one of the lot..."

Jasmine smirked. "Well, by 'public' record, he's only 130 or so years old as a vampire, little more than an ancilla like myself, which makes the consistent rumors more than a little... disturbing to Kindred minds. Doesn't help that he's never made any attempt to hide the black lines of diablerie from anyone either. Have to admit that that kind of fear has to be a good tool for his work."

"And while I'm asking..." Sarril sighed. "What's 'diablerie'?"

"I'm sorry." Jasmine smiled and shrugged. "Some terms are just so-ingrained... anyway. Diablerie is when a vampire drains the blood of another, killing them. There's some theories that the soul goes with it to the killer, thereby explaining the black lines that appear in their aura and maybe explaining why a lower generation vampire can actually go _up_ a generation by diablerizing a higher-gen one. It's not really safe, from all I've heard, since the vamp victim in question _can_ fight back to a point. The other point is the whole Sixth Tradition and general disapproval that comes with killing another Kindred that way. A good way to end up dead if you're found out."

"That makes sense," Sarril said. "I think. From what the Elkandu know about how souls work at any rate." He was about given up on pretending he knows half of what she mentioned in passing by this point, though. "But I'll take it from the way you say that that this 'generation' means more than just a line on a family tree?"

Jasmine nodded. "Yeah, it's a measure of how far down the 'family' tree you are from Caine, since a childe will always be one generation lower than their Sire. There's a lot less distinction in the lowest generations, some of them are barely considered Kindred by this point, but when you start getting into the higher gens the blood's more potent and able to tap into stronger and stronger aspects of the disciplines."

"I never really noticed anything like that myself..." Sarril mused, frowning.

"I don't know," Jasmine replied. "All I can say is that my Sire can do some truly interesting things with his disciplines that I'll never be able to accomplish unless my generation goes up the ladder."

"Streyka is stronger than me," Sarril said. "Keolah is stronger than _her_. Of course, most of them don't even come near to that, so maybe they're the exception than the rule, seems pretty weird though."

Jasmine blinked at that. "That's... odd. But it does make me wonder about some of the rumors that go around about Falk, doesn't seem to pay much attention to what the Kindred assume to be 'true'. Hmm."

There _were_ some aspects, such as the depth of the blood pool or ability to expend it at specific rates that would be physical limitations, but the rest would be questionable.

"What was that about me?" said a female voice from the lift. It was a woman with auburn hair, silver eyes, and pointy ears, wearing green tights and matching cloak. But her aura was extremely bright, almost blindingly so.

"Wha... huh?" Jasmine looked around, then said politely, "Oh, hello."

She waved as she approached, apparently recognizing Sarril, but not recognizing Jasmine, she introduced herself, saying, "Keolah Kedaire, the Seeker of Truth."

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Jasmine," she replied, grinning a little. "I'm afraid Sarril didn't warn me that you were on the list of names to be careful of invoking. Shame on him."

Keolah said, "Oh, I just happened to be in the area, normally I don't come on cue. Besides, I'm perfectly benevolent." She grinned broadly.

"So you're a saint? Never met one of those before," Jasmine quipped. "Though meeting someone who's perfectly benevolent is certainly a refreshing change!"

Keolah laughed lightly. "I like her, Sarril. Where did you dig her up?" Sarril snickered softly.

"No, it's the shovel-heads that get to be dug up," Jasmine replied, chuckling. "He just happened to introduce himself to the Prince of the city I live in and I got to share the wonders of cell phones with him. Luddite." She snorted at Sarril.

"Ah, I see," Keolah said. "You're from the World of Darkness, I see. It was an interesting place. Can't say I've been there in some time, though."

"World of Darkness?" Jasmine quirked a brow. "Can't say that's not an inappropriate title for it, and probably better than Terra clone number whatever, but where'd that title come from?"

"You'd have thought that would have been a more fitting name for Mezulbryst, wouldn't you," Keolah said. "But no, that was the name it was given in the tabletop roleplaying games it was featured in during the late twentieth century on the version of Terra I was from..."

"A game," Jasmine smirked. "I think some people might be miffed at that reference, but I personally think it's pretty funny. Be funny to see some ego bubbles burst with it."

"You'd probably also be interested to note that I have also visited the Star Trek, Star Wars, etc, universes, too."

Jasmine looked at the woman with a strange expression, like she'd swallowed something the wrong way, then let just the smallest grin escape. "Really? And do they bear more than a passing resemblance to the movies?"

"Oh, quite," Keolah said. "Except for the prequels. The prequels were all wrong. Midichlorians do not exist."

"Yes! I knew it!" Jasmine grinned broadly. "That sound you just heard was generations of Lucas fans singing your praises."

Keolah giggled. "So, what timeframe were you from? I haven't visited your world since... hmm, it was the late twentieth century, local time, I believe."

"First half of the twenty-second century, 2133 to be precise," Jasmine replied, not really surprised to think that these people had known about and visited her home for a while now. Time traveling, now that would take a little more evidence to convince her but it was thankfully not at issue.

"Heh. I probably thankfully missed all kinds of fun, didn't I?" Keolah said. "Sometimes I kind of miss the Exploration days, when we'd go around taking a peek at every world we could..."

"From what Sarril's been saying about the various Terra's," Jasmine replied. "I'd say you probably missed the jump-off point for it splitting off, if it didn't go back even further just because of all the supernaturals running around. Unification Wars are probably the biggest event since the twentieth, everything else has been pretty much same old same. Well," she reconsidered. "That and the Awakening that led up to it."

"Most fascinating," Keolah said. "Of course, these days I end up spending my time creating and tending to planets instead of exploring them, but... Well, I guess Serriya and the Pattern Realm didn't turn out too badly?"

"I... wouldn't know." Jasmine blinked a bit at that. "The idea of the Nexus and the worlds out there are still fairly new to me, didn't even realize what I was walking into when I went traipsing off after Sarril."

"Oh, yeah, you get used to it after a while," Keolah said. "I surely didn't know what I was getting into when I followed Sedder into the Library Tower to learn he'd about killed himself trying to cast a powerful spell..."

"I'm sure I'll pick it up along the way," Jasmine replied confidently. "The Ista line isn't exactly known for turning a blind eye to how things really work." She thought about her Sire, snickered. "Well, to a point anyway, but you have to excuse the really dusty ones."

Keolah said, "Well, I'd best be off, things to do, worlds to make sure don't spontaneously combust... Tata." She waved and disappeared in a flash of light. A rather different effect from just Recalling...

"Well that was different," Jasmine commented.

She wasn't sure just what to make of the woman who'd just left. It hadn't really introduced anything _new_ , but it poked at some of the questions that she'd been developing since dealing with Sarril. Later, she decided, and looked back to him with a smirk.

"So, ready to get back to work?" Jasmine asked.

"Naturally," Sarril said. "She's an interesting one, that one..."

Sarril looked over a diagram displaying the locations. There were little dots spread out all over the place, and even on worlds that he had never actually heard of, never mind visited.

He said, "So, where shall we start?"

Jasmine looked at the map. "Bleh. Hmm. Really have to wonder what the guy's thinking to have people spread all over the place like this." She shrugged. "I guess we can pick an end and work our way through, going furthest to nearest or the reverse, whichever sounds best."

Sarril shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. I've never even heard of half these places. Perhaps start close by and move out then."

"Sounds good." Jasmine nodded. "And if we do things by the numbers, maybe we won't have people scrambling away to warn the rest of the suckers."

She grinned at him, then Recalled to the Nexus. He followed, looking over the map. He trusted Lezaria to Streyka's capable hands, but there were others on the Prime Elkandu worlds that they'd need to track down.


	12. Chasm and Tower

"Chasm's Edge, on Wilderplane," Sarril announced, activating the Nexus to take them there.

It was morning in Kelletirandia, but it was still night in Chasm's Edge, which was several time zones to the west of there. Jasmine trusted him to keep track of the timing of their visits, he'd already shown good sense in that regard as they'd looked around a bit. With luck they could deal with their business and get back to Torn Elkandu before it became an issue of finding shelter, otherwise there _were_ other means to keep safe during the day.

As it turned out, there didn't appear to be a city here at first, but Sarril headed down a partially concealed staircase... apparently, the city of Chasm's Edge was built entirely underground. And on the edge of a chasm, unsurprisingly. Jasmine followed down the staircase, chancing a glance over the edge and wondering just how far this particular hole went... not about to find out, she decides and keeps on.

"Sensible little bolthole," she remarked casually. "Though it seems a little out of the way for the accumulation of _incredible cosmic powers_!" Okay, she'd admit it, she had probably watched more Disney than could possibly be good.

They found a city populated by a large number of drow. The vast chasm to the south roared with a perpetual storm where a river flows into it. Near the waterfall, there was a massive obsidian stone carved with thousands of names.

They're not here as tourists, but Jasmine asked anyway, "What's with the obelisk?"

She kept an eye out for any sign of a pale aura. There weren't any in immediate sight.

Sarril said, "That's the Drowstone. The names of everyone they acknowledge as trueborn, pureblooded drow are carved onto it. That gives them access to the power of the Storm." He indicated the lightning and angry clouds boiling over the Chasm.

"Ah," Jasmine acknowledged, thinking it a bit weird but really no stranger than any other number of things people had done back home to demarcate their heritage. "Did the computer pull up anything more specific here?" she asked, "Or are we going to be conducting a house-to-house search? Afraid I left my jackboots at home." She grinned.

"The target was wandering around in the streets when the scan was made. Could be anywhere by now."

He meandered on through the "streets", which were really more of just smoothly hewn tunnels lined by openings to "buildings" that are more of caves.

Jasmine made a face. "Door-to-door it is, then, and me without a copy of the Watchtower."

Oh well, at least it gave an opportunity to take a look at another area of the worlds she was interested in seeing, they'd find their target sooner or later... it wasn't like they didn't have all the time they in the world, after all!

However, she did spot him skulking about an alleyway some ways across town. He apparently decided to do the stupid thing and attacked them.

Jasmine would _try_ the harder way this time and make an effort not to kill the guy. She was well practiced at unarmed styles and would attempt to throw and generally bash him down. Failing that, well...

"Hah, I am the greatest!" he shouted, shortly followed by, "Oof, ow, ouch, you're greater than me, okay. Ungh." He ended up fairly mangled laying against a nearby rock wall.

Jasmine smirked in belated reaction to the change in tune and swept her cloak back to crouch near the vamp. She reached down to grab him by the shoulder and lift him up a bit.

"So, want to tell us what you're doing here? Or would you prefer to have a little chat with someone who can _make_ you talk?" She could insinuate torture all day long, as long as she could rely on Sarril's comments before about Streyka.

"Oh, I'm just hanging out, having a good time, you know?" Like most of the others in the city, this man was a drow.

"Uh-huh," Jasmine replied, yanking him up along with her as she stood and not being particularly gentle with the placement of pressure on his shoulder. "And I'm sure the name Vadrak means nothing to you, right? I'd ask if we looked that stupid to you, but there's the old truism that you can only see what you know." She rolled her eyes and shook him a bit. "Spit it out while you're still in a position to do it willingly."

"Never heard of him," he said blithely. "And that's all I'm going to say on the subject."

"Nah, it's not," Jasmine replied with a too-sweet smile. "You just don't realize it yet." Never one to fight fair, she took advantage of the relative positions and kneed him in the groin, then proceeded to knock him into unconsciousness.

Sarril said, "Right cooperative sort, isn't he?" He smirked broadly.

"I'm sure he will be, if what you've said about Streyka's true," Jasmine chuckled, looking down at the drow for a second, then over to Sarril. "Okay, two things... Does that little castle have cells of some sort, and, uhhh, ever put something living in a bag of holding? Sure would be simpler than lugging him around loose."

"Plenty of nicely warded cells," Sarril said. "And bags of holding put things in them into stasis effectively. Sedder, for instance, carries around a live gnome in his bag for some reason..."

"Great!" Jasmine grinned, in answer to both parts of the answer, and went to stuff the drow into the duffel for safe storage for now. Zipping it back up, she patted the bag fondly. "I knew this thing was going to be handy..." She looked over to Sarril. "Should we drop him off for her to have around to ask, or head off for the next one?" She toed the bag with a grin, wishing she'd had one _years_ ago.

Sarril laughed lightly, and pulled out his watch to check the time on Lezaria. "I imagine she's asleep at the moment, so let's head on to the next one."

Jasmine hefted the bag experimentally. "At this rate, could stick the lot of them in there and not break a sweat." She snickered, then tilted her head. "What's the next stop?"

He returned to Torn Elkandu and checked the time zone clock comparing with the map. "Khizsalr."

Jasmine glanced at the map briefly, nodded, and headed to follow him there. "Anything interesting to keep an eye out for here?"

Teleporting over there, they ended up near a tall stone tower and in sight of a town that looked as though it has been burned and was being rebuilt.

Sarril said, "Hmm. What happened to the Walls? Weird. Well, it was recently invaded by Orks... I guess they might've destroyed the Walls, but I don't see how, they were awfully powerful huge magical forcefields..."

"Geez, what a mess," Jasmine said. "Looks like those Orks had about all the common courtesy of the Mordor variety." She glanced over at him. "And what's that about walls?"

He pointed toward the tower. "Used to be these huge glowing Walls separating the provinces, that connected at the Towers. There's an Archmage in every Tower that oversees travel between provinces..."

Jasmine looked over at the tower in surprise, guesstimating how tall the walls had to have been, then whistled. "There's an old saying that good fences make good neighbors, and those must have been some _really_ good neighbors until the invasion."

"Yeah, nobody went _anywhere_ without the Archmages knowing about it. There was a distinct lack of invasions, epidemics, and such. Until the Orks came with spaceships."

He headed over toward the Tower.

"Orks in spaceships." Jasmine hmmed, trying to imagine what that had to have looked like and failing miserably as the orcs she was seeing in her mind were nothing like the massive greenskins. She strolled after him. "That would put a damper on things, I suppose. If they could make walls like that, though, why didn't they put a dome overhead to keep them out?"

"I suppose the Walls were built thousands of years ago and nobody in that time considered the possibility of just, you know, flying over. And nobody these days could improve on them, reinforce them, or apparently, replace them." He headed through some gates into a dark tunnel at the entrance to the Tower.

"But what about these 'archmages'?" Jasmine asked, trodding after him. "They maintained the things but couldn't... Pfft, well that's just stupid."

"The Walls, I suppose, were created by powers far beyond their ken," he said.

As they came to a second portcullis, this one lowered, they heard a clang from behind them as the one they entered by closed. There was some light and a tingling sensation from the ceiling as something thoroughly analyzed them.

Jasmine started and looked behind as the gate closed, then looked over at Sarril and decided that it wasn't any cause for immediate alarm, judging by his reaction (or lack thereof more specifically). That didn't do much to eliminate the unease at the feeling of being scanned... caution was a way of life.

There was the faint ring of a bell, and the gates opened, and a masculine voice from somewhere said, "Welcome to Rohar's Tower. You may proceed."

Sarril headed inside. Jasmine hopped quickly out after him, sparing another glance back before trying to remember what they'd been talking about. Something about the walls... she shrugged mentally and went to more practical matters.

"What are we looking for here? Well, I know what we're looking for overall but I mean specifically _here_..." Realizing she was rambling, she shut up with a snap of her jaw.

"If he's in the Tower, Rohar would have seen him. If not, Rohar would probably be able to tell us where to go," Sarril said.

They entered into a large workshop filled with bubbling cauldrons emitting a variety of odors and of different colors, jars full of components, fluids, and body parts lining the shelves, and a half-elf wearing simple dark blue robes looking over one of the cauldrons thoughtfully.

"Oh." Jasmine nodded, screwing her features up and putting a hand to her mouth to try and keep it back, then surrendered and offered a bright grin. "So we're off to see the Wizard."

She put on a deliberately straight and serious face as they entered the lab, wrapped in enough innocence to expect a halo to suddenly gleam.

"Ah, hello," said the mage as they walked in. "What can I do for you? Custom enchantments or potions, looking for someone, or just information?"

Jasmine smiled. "Probably a bit of the last two, if you don't mind. We're looking specifically for a vampire." She cut a quick look at Sarril and muttered, "Did we get a name from the computer?"

Sarril shook his head. "Nope. But there shouldn't be an awful lot of them around here."

Rohar nodded, and said, "Yeah, there's another one in the tower. He showed up a few months ago and helped with fending off the Orks a bit."

"Any others that've shown up fairly recently?" Jasmine asked, the idea of fighting off these orcs seemed a bit out of place for most Kindred... though she supposes it'd fall well under the self-defense contract with the Beast.

"Nope, ain't seen nary a one, sides you of course," Rohar said, spooning out a bit of blue liquid and sniffing at it thoughtfully.

Hopefully no one had gotten too friendly with the bugger over the incident, then, otherwise things were likely to get ugly if the vampire wasn't looking to be talkative...

"Thanks," Jasmine said politely. "We'll go see about that and leave you to your, uhh, work."

She headed for the door, thinking if there was some way beyond the obvious method for searching the tower. Ah, right, blind luck would work, if it can see it was way to do it!

"Try the fifth floor," Rohar said helpfully as she went.

Sarril headed along with her and shortly locating some stairs.

"Fifth floor it is," Jasmine remarked as they found the stairs. "Better than searching top to bottom. That kind of attention to detail has its place, but not when trying to locate someone!

Sarril chuckled. Up the stairs he went. They passed through a mess hall where a handful of people were munching on porridge, and eventually come to what, by counting the flights of stairs, should be the fifth floor. But the place was such a tangled mess of corridors that it was hard to really tell.

"Humm, yeah." Jasmine nodded. "This kind of layout would be pretty appealing to the Beast, sure to confuse your enemies. Yish. Mmkay, let's see if we can't pick up an aura somewhere in here..."

She started scanning, if for nothing else than a basic direction to work with and toward. After thoroughly searching the place and seeing no sign of him, by chance they stumbled upon a door that they hadn't seen before. Had it even been there before? Inside, they saw one male vampire, sitting and reading a book on the old gods of the Elkandu universe. Jasmine was quite thoroughly turned around and likely lost by the time they finally got around to finding the vampire.

"Well hello there!" she offered in bright greeting, hoping to forestall an _immediate_ attack _this_ time at least.

"Oh, hello," he said in a friendly manner, putting away the book. "Come in, come in!" He smiled at them.

"Thanks, my name's Jasmine," she replied, walking in at the invitation. "Happened to get pointed in your direction by Rohar."

"I'm Lucencis," he said. "Oh, Rohar's a great fellow, very helpful and hospitable."

"Pleased to meet you." Jasmine smiled. "And it doesn't surprise me that he's hospitable, after he mentioned your helping with the invasion a while back. That sort of thing tends to get people in more favorable moods."

"Oh, yes, those nasty Orks," Lucencis said, making a face. "Not the sort you'd want to invite to a party. But what brings _you_ here?"

The smile turned a bit crooked, and Jasmine 'accidentally' found herself standing in between the vampire and the door. "Actually, we were somewhat curious as to what you might know about Vadrak."

Lucencis raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know him. What about him? And, I daresay you're not just asking that so you can send him party invitations."

"Mmmm, no, no tea and biscuits," Jasmine agreed with his assessment. "But then from everything Sarril here has said about Vadrak, there's a pretty good chance that he's doing something that's not exactly nice. Having his childer spread out all over the place does look a little suspicious, you have to admit, and the last one didn't even give a chance to talk before he _attacked me_!"

"Hmh," Lucencis said. "Foolish ones, then. Talking is so much more useful than just fighting. But no, Vadrak is not my sire."

"It has its good and bad points." Jasmine smirked, then crossed her arms. "But that's interesting, considering someone that is apparently one of the best at that sort of thing in these parts tagged one of Vadrak's in this area."

"No, I'm from Mezulbryst," he said. "Though I _am_ descended from Vadrak, just a few more generations removed than that." He smirked.

"Hmm, well that makes sense," Jasmine replied. "Though why would you come out here? Mezulbryst seems to have all the bases loaded as far as vampires are concerned."

"You'd think, wouldn't you?" he said. "But a vampire's paradise got rather dull after a few hundred years, you know."

"I wouldn't know." Jasmine smirked. "But I suppose I could see it. So what do you know about Vadrak anyway? There's definitely something weird going on with his line, but no solid info as yet."

He shrugged. "What's there to know? He's very old and powerful. He just sent me here to keep an eye on things and to look into a local organization called the 'Guild of Eternal Shadow' that he seemed to have some interest in."

"Ah, so you _are_ working for him still," Jasmine replied, nodding slowly. "But why? From all I've heard, it's pretty unlikely that anything he has an interest in is going to be any good for people in general, or his own childer, grandchilder, and so on. Sarril here could probably give you a few examples of _that_."

Lucencis raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, he seemed an okay fellow to me. Why do you say that?"

Jasmine smiled and shrugged. "Just hints I've picked up here and there, and then compared them to how older vampires tend to get over time. Seems like he's a pretty good manipulator, a secretive one who's in hiding, and isn't hesitant to toss out new blood for whatever purpose strikes his fancy. Doesn't even have to be _sane_ blood, as I've already seen."

Sarril went on to describe what he did to his mother, and how he terrorized Lezaria in the ancient times.

Lucencis frowned a bit and said, "Well, that's not particularly nice at all, if that's true. But how do I know that you aren't just trying to discredit him?"

"You can't," Jasmine replied with a grin. "But then that's the real problem with any of the little vampire games, isn't it? You may want to ask yourself a few questions sometime, though. Put yourself in the perspective of someone who's done what Sarril said and ask what kind of use he'd find for this guild you mentioned. Now, look at it from a normal angle and ask whether it would still be of enough interest to send you here..." She shrugged. "Ultimately, it comes down to suspicion versus trust, and I know all too well that the latter is about as common as chicken lips among us. On the other hand, you didn't see us leaping at _your_ throat without provocation either, did you?"

"Perhaps," he said, shrugging. "I do not see, myself, anything that he has done that might be particularly bad. Perhaps time will tell."

"Just watch yourself," Jasmine said. "Old ones aren't exactly known for playing nice with their toys when they're not useful anymore." She shrugged and offered a faint smile. "Think it over." She waved, then turned to head back out the door.

"I shall be cautious," he said. "Have a nice night."

Jasmine walked out back into the maze, looking thoughtful, then shook her head and quietly said, "Persuasive little thing, isn't he? But then the old ones tend to be, or _make_ you see it their way."

"Indeed," Sarril agreed. "But Lucencis didn't seem crazy or bad or anything, just misled." Sarril shook his head, and headed down the stairs.

"If he had," Jasmine grinned, "He'd have ended up joining our friend in the bag. But no, he didn't, and I hope he _does_ think about it before it's too late. Playing as a pawn isn't a smart move, no matter how reasonable the game sounds." She followed after him, thinking, and went on after a minute, "Next stop? Or check out this Guild that he seems so interested in?"

"The Guild, perhaps," Sarril said. "I can't say I've heard of them, myself. but maybe there's something to it."

"Couldn't hurt," Jasmine agreed. "Whether it's something that he thinks might be useful to him, or something that might be a hindrance, either way it's worth a look and seeing if there isn't anything we can do to add some english to the ball."

She grinned a bit and headed back down to the wizard's lair, if nothing else it might be a starting point. Rohar greeted them again when they came back, currently adding some herbs to a big pot of foaming green liquid.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Rohar asked.

"Sorta." Jasmine smiled wryly. "But it did point the way to another question that you may be able to help us with. Ever hear of a 'Guild of Eternal Shadows' or something along those lines?"

"Yeah, they're based down in Cathertash," Rohar said. "But they're all over these days. They used to rely pretty heavily on enchanted rings to turn initiates into drow, but these days a lot of them are born into the guild now."

Jasmine blinked. "Turning people into drow? Whaaaa?"

Rohar nodded. "Yeah. They used these items called 'drowrings'. They put em on the finger, and after a certain amount of time, a few hours to a few days, they'd turn into a drow slowly. The Guildmasters used to order some of them from one of the other Archmages."

Jasmine chalked that up as one of the odder things she'd run across lately, but rallied gamely, "Okay then. What does this Guild do other than look to turn people into drow?"

"Oh, assassinations, thievery, spying, smuggling, all sorts of shady things, although they try to _look_ all nice and legitimate on the outside."

"Guess that explains the interest," Jasmine said dryly, glancing at Sarril. "Sounds like just the sort of operation he'd find useful in hiring work out to, or as, uhhh, potential recruits." She frowned. "Humm, that's not a reassuring thought, actually."

Rohar said, "I suppose the Guild uses their drow-hood both as a mark of membership, and for the drow race's innate attunement to darkness. They can see a good deal better in the dark, as well as gaining some innate Illusion powers..."

"Nnn." Jasmine looked disquieted. "I was thinking more in lines of the embrace, and what that would mean in terms of their skills. That would be a nasty bit of business."

"Yes, of course," Rohar said. "I imagine most of the Guild members would be most happy to be vampires, too, considering they're already fairly close, minus the whole hemophagia business and all, of course. And sunlight just blinds drow, it doesn't kill them. Well, very quickly at least."

"Something you might want to keep an eye out on," Jasmine said with a shrug. "I doubt they or Vadrak would be satisfied with just using this world as a casual base of operations. Of course," she smirked, "It could be a thousand years before he got around to really setting things moving here."

"I generally keep an eye on the Guild on principle," Rohar said. "Some of them are pretty nasty, although most of them at least have some principles about what they do. Justifying what they do by 'stealing from the rich' and killing only for 'good cause' and such. Sometimes their excuses are fairly flimsy." He shrugged.

"Real Robin Hoods, eh?" Jasmine smirked. "Though I don't remember there being any assassins in the merry band." She shook her head. "Thanks for the info, again," She grinned. "I'll try to keep from dropping back and interrupting again soonish."

She swept a bow with a flourish of the cape, just because she thought it made her look like something from a fantasy didn't mean she hadn't ever spent time _using_ it... then headed back out.


	13. Little Lasombra

Alayne appeared somewhere in the streets that night. He was a human male, with dark hair and brown eyes, standing around five foot seven. He was dressed in a green tunic and pants, heavy boots, and a thick traveling cloak, and had a short sword strapped to his belt. He'd blend in perfectly on any medieval world, at least.

That sort of dress might have gotten a bit of scrutiny or some laughter back in the late twentieth, but people had gotten so used to seeing the fae running around that another refugee from the SCA wasn't even going to cause a ripple. Night was a good time for general traffic, both for Kindred and the kine population that followed them around as well as the more outgoing parts of the fae.

There were other less-savory running the night than that, naturally, but they watch from the shadows with eyes glittering with malevolent hunger, the only sign of their existence leaking out into the public eye or ear being the occasional scream on the cool summer air.

Vadrak had just told him to scout around and get an idea what the current status of things here was -- sensible enough, considering that he had no idea even what year it might be here, considering dimensional temporal shifts. So Alayne just looked around, trying to be casual to hide his nervousness, and at least managing well enough at that.

Considering the stew of supernaturals in the city, the masses of mundane folk lived in relative peace and that was maintained with considerable interest by most of the interested parties. Destruction and unrest set into motion by their claws and fangs just wasn't something they were looking to do, not unless someone wanted to end up at the short and sharp end of things. More than one defender cruises the night.

Werecats cruised through the streets, stopping now and again for a bit of harmless fun or to beat the head of a Brujah in, same difference to them. The fae had their own more subtle protections, though they tended to weave the gossamer strands of their magics to encourage life to thrive and ward against the darker things that lurked. The Kindred... well, they had a few bullets of their own for the gun.

Just by the nature of their society there were a few official stations that dealt with unruliness or potential trouble among their own kind. The sheriff and their deputies dealt with anything that smelled of smoke and promised to burst into a brushfire, while the scourge took a more proactive role... Raphael wandered the streets endlessly, night after night, watchful for signs of any new and unannounced Kindred entering the city.

He had slept beneath the ruins of Carthage through nearly the entire reign of the Sabbat, but he knew ever that there were ones who would seek to step outside the laws of Caine... and as a childe of Saulot, having been sired within the now-fabled walls of the First City, he took transgression against their Father's commandments quite seriously.

Alayne meandered the streets casually, not even making any particular effort to stay out of sight. He was supposed to be looking around, after all, and not skulking about like some obvious thief. He certainly wasn't told a damned thing about the general rules of the place.

The gleaming brightness of the Rack drew Alayne like a moth to flame, as it been designed with the sensibilities and tastes of the Kindred specifically in mind. As he neared he saw hints of the vampire population in force, mingling without care with the warmer, more vibrant masses of the kine and providing the darker hint of hunger that underlay the cheerful facade.

Raphael spied him before he's quite reached the haven of garish light, though, and casually settles into a stride beside the other vampire. "New here," he said, not a question. "Planning on presenting yourself tonight, I'd hope."

Alayne jumped a bit in startlement as Raphael spoke, stopped and turned to face him. "Er, what? Oh. Yeah. Of course," he said quickly, having no idea what he was talking about.

"Mm-hmm," Raphael replied unencouragingly, a long-time master of Auspex and aura-reading and readily reading the incomprehension and flickering confusion in the other. Hell, that wouldn't take a mind or aura reader, it practically screamed out in the way the other vampire reacted. "I'd recommend it," he went on, "Without the recognition of the Prince you're nothing by Caine's law." The words themselves were spoken in a calm, matter-of-fact tone, but there was a clear enough warning underneath.

"Ummm..." Alayne said nervously, the mask of nonchalance having shattered under the least inspection. "Where? What?"

Raphael looked narrowly at the clearly young vampire. "What's your clan affiliation and Sire's name? Someone should have told you about the basic Traditions by now, otherwise you're just begging for trouble."

Alayne snapped his mouth shut and didn't answer, just looking at him with something of a look of panic and confusion. Something wasn't right here, Raphael just wasn't sure just what as of yet and it was his duty to find out. He pointed back to the shadows of a nearby alleyway, away from the trickle of people passing along the sidewalk.

"I think we need to have a little talk," Raphael said.

Alayne considered trying to make a break for it, but common sense prevailed and he hesitantly followed. _I am so dead,_ he thought to himself. Raphael led the way into the alley, then waited for the other vampire to catch up before moving with a blur of speed to grab and slammed him up against the concrete wall. _Hard_.

"Now, you're going to tell me who you are," Raphael said, maintaining the grip that has Alayne suspended about six inches off the ground.

Alayne whimpered softly, and considering how fast he moved, was glad he didn't try to run for it, as he'd be already dead, he thought. "Alayne Cona. From East Village," he said quickly.

"You don't have a New York accent, boy," Raphael replied coldly, not letting loose. "And that name is an unlikely occurrence there. What putrid misbirth Sired you, and to what Clan?"

Alayne made a choking sound for a moment, and said fervently, " _I can't tell you_."

Raphael smiled grimly. "Right now you have nothing more to worry about than me, boy. I'd suggest you answer." His clan had been all but wiped out in the years he'd been in torpor, and the fire that had revitalized and rebuilt them was a quietly dangerous warning to the young vampire.

"Oh believe me, I'd _really like_ to tell you, but I can't!"

"And why's that?" Raphael asked, glaring.

He tries to answer, but failed to say much more than choked, incoherent babbling. He closed his eyes and just managed to say, "Please don't kill me..."

"Look at me," Raphael commanded in a voice of steel, and Alayne could see a faint glimmer of light through his closed lids.

Alayne opened his eyes to look at him. The Third Eye, the trademark of the Salubri, looked at the young vampire from the center of Raphael's forehead and glows with a shimmering blue light. His normal eyes had closed, and his lips twisted in a smirk as he studied the other through the mystical orb.

"Someone has touched your mind..." he intoned in a distant, absent voice.

"Yes..." Alayne managed in a whisper. "He did that. He didn't... he didn't want me to betray him... I don't... I don't know what he did... Please don't kill me..."

"I won't hurt you unless you leave me no other choice," Raphael replied semi-reassuringly, though perhaps less so as Alayne could feel the touch of an ancient power probing the limits of his mind to seek out the source of the taint and what might be done to heal it. The Salubri were warriors, but their special calling was healing the body, mind, and soul, even so far as to take the body of another for a time in the doing. Whoever did this was clearly very skilled and knew exactly what they were doing. However, he did manage to remove the block.

After a moment, Alayne whispered, "Vadrak. Of the clan Lasombra."

Raphael opened his eyes, the third dimming and then slipping shut once more to leave nothing more than a 'scar' on his forehead, and nodded slowly. "The Prince warned to be watchful," he said, "And it would seem she was right in so doing." He lowered Alayne so his feet touch the ground, but didn't set him loose. "That clan is under perpetual blood hunt, do you know what that means?"

"No," Alayne murmured, but he could guess. He was clearly terrified, scared out of his wits.

"It means they're marked for Final Death, child," Raphael replied quietly. "Their evils were widely known and led to their being hunted relentlessly across the world and beyond. That taint is not overly strong in you, and I wonder just how much your Sire may have told you before sending you blindly scouting."

"He said... he said he hadn't been here in a long time, and he didn't know what had happened here recently. He wanted me to find out what was going on here, how his clan was doing..."

Raphael smiled thinly. "They're gone, save for a few remnants who have taken the wiser course and hidden themselves away from the evils they once unleashed." Very few clans were truly 'evil' from surface to core, he knew that well and had aided more than one to find a place of sanctuary over the years. "Come and answer a few questions more to the Prince," he went on, "I will see no harm comes to you, though your Sire will need be left without the answers he himself seeks."

Alayne gave a nod and said, "Alright..." He was still scared, but relaxed a bit at his promises.

Raphael was a hard and relentless man, but the childer of Saulot were bound by certain principles and a code of honor which would no more allow him to destroy an innocent dupe than to slay a babe. "Come along, then," he said, loosing his grip but remaining watchful. "The night ahead will doubtless be long indeed, and I will warn against escape lest your own actions serve to damn you."

Alayne went along readily, looking to the ground somewhat as he went. Vadrak wasn't going to be happy, he thought. Not when he didn't come back, and not when he finally found out, one way or another, what had happened here, and what had happened to his clan.

Raphael kept an eye on Alayne as he led the way across town to the Legerdemain, leaving the young vampire to his own thoughts. There would be time enough to delve into those at Cordelia's command, but it would surely be better than what the man could have expected through the corruption of the soul that the old Lasombra were known for. Time would tell what would come of it.

Alayne's in a mood to be perfectly quiescent and obedient at the moment, as he figured it would likely increase his chances of survival at the moment. Surely, Vadrak would kill him for it, but Vadrak wasn't here and this other fellow was...

Alayne wasn't led immediately to the specially designed cells that occupy the concealed sub-basement at the club, though they would have possibly been wisest as they were warded on so many levels that escape was as unlikely as anyone else getting _at_ a prisoner. He was led instead to the fourth floor of the club and taken to a simple, comfortable guest room.

"You'll be safe enough here, for now," Raphael explained.

Alayne noted that this wasn't a dungeon cell mentally and said, "Thank you..." and went in.

"I'll tell the Prince that you're here," Raphael replied. "I'm sure she'll wish to speak with you shortly, and at some length. Be truthful, lad."

He nodded once, then stepped back out and closed the door, leaving it unlocked for the moment. There were Kindred enough here to have little to worry about one young Lasombra, and he made a note to settle security arrangements as he headed off to inform Cordelia. Security for the child himself, Raphael mused darkly, for he had little doubt that the Sire would not hesitate to dispose of one who had 'betrayed' him. The compulsion against it showed that determination and inclination all too well.


	14. The Haunted Castle

Once back outside the wards to where Recalling would work, Sarril returned to Torn Elkandu, and said, "Hmm. Apparently there's one in Veyrkaal. Now _why_ would a vampire want to go to Veyrkaal?"

Jasmine followed after, naturally, and perked as he mentioned the name. "Why wouldn't they? What's different, odd, or otherwise unpleasant about the place?"

"The fact that it's built in a burning cavern next to a lake of molten lava, mainly."

"Uhhh, ew?" Jasmine shivered. "Why _would_ any Kindred go there? Why would _anyone_ go there?"

"Masochism?" Sarril said. "You know, personally, a place called the 'Tower of Eternal Flames' is not really high on my list of vacation spots."

Jasmine chuckled. "No, I don't suppose it would be. Let's hope that there's no one we're looking for _there_ too." She sighed, blahed, and steeled herself determinedly. "Okay, let's get this over with."

Sarril activated the Nexus to take them to Veyrkaal. The far south end of it away from the Sea of Fire on the northern edge. It was still very hot here. The place appeared primarily inhabited by dwarves.

The Beast wasn't too happy about this but Jasmine only seemed a little nervous as she took a look around after their arrival, making note of the general population with a smirk.

"Considering his apparent tastes, it shouldn't be _too_ difficult to track down the vamp in this crowd," Jasmine said.

As they walked along the street looking, suddenly they were attacked by a vampiric dwarf. With a large axe. Jasmine leapt back with a startled yelp and swept the slender elven blade from its sheathe.

"Never take chances on a madman with an axe," she said.

This one she wasn't even going to _try_ and keep alive -- that thing looked a little too dangerous! Sarril concurred, bringing his powers against the dwarf. The dwarf screamed ferally and hacked at them with the axe, which was nearly as big as he was. And failing to hit anything with it.

Jasmine activated her Celerity and made ample use of the seeming slowing of the world to press the attack with her sword, trying to slip it past the dwarf's guard and strike him... or at the least lop off the bloody huge axe head!

Thrust! Slice! Dodge! Parry! After a quick and decisive battle, the dwarf ended up in several bloody pieces on the ground. Oddly, the passersby didn't seem to be paying them more than casual attention. Apparently duels to the death in the streets weren't uncommon here.

"Yeesh!" Jasmine muttered, flicking the blade to disperse the few clinging droplets of blood. "If I wasn't getting used to being randomly attacked by Kindred out here, I'd start to be paranoid that he had some sort of warning."

"I'm just glad there's one less vampiric dwarven berzerker in the universe," Sarril said. "Makes me wonder if Vadrak got his recruits from the nearest high-security prison for irredeemably idiotic and violent people or something."

Jasmine smirked. "Wouldn't surprise me in the least, considering the brain trusts I've seen so far. Looks like he definitely focuses on quantity over quality, for the most part. Hmm." She looked around. "No one seems to care, but may as well see about disposing of the body, never know when they might have some crazy 'no littering' law or something."

Unlike another Kindred, she didn't even think about looting the body first. Of course, the passersby were already beating her to the punch on the "looting the body" bit, as Sarril looked away for one minute and found that the corpse was suddenly missing his axe, boots, and coin purse.

Jasmine lifted a brow as she re-sheathed her sword. "Could have at least taken the rest." She reached down to collect the body gingerly, and looked around for a convenient dumpster or public trash can of some sort. There was a dumpster nearby. When she went to toss him in, she noticed pieces of at least two other bodies already in there. Violent place, this.

Jasmine dumped the body in with its fellows, just shaking her head at the blatant indications of a violent society. Sure, the World of Darkness ( _still_ hilariously funny, and she giggled inwardly) was a violent place, but they at least hid the bodies better! Tsk. She returned to Sarril's side and looked down the street.

"Hmm, think that was the one we were looking for? Pretty slim chance it wasn't, I'd think, but..."

"Crazy enough to be _one_ vampire here, never mind more than one."

"Point," Jasmine agreed, then hmmed. "Funny, I would have thought it'd be hotter here. Actually pretty comfy, other than the view of hellfire and whatnot in the distance."

Sarril said, "Let's just go." He Recalled.

"Yeeeah," Jasmine muttered, then Recalls as well, perfectly happy to get away from the thought of all that lava.

Sarril looked up what was next on the itinerary. "Hasaris next," he said. "We'll need to beam into the city of Tesfin ... Azale said there's one up in the Castle in the Clouds, but that's warded, so we'll have to fly up there."

"Wait, what, huh?" Jasmine looked at him, confused at the litany that flew _right_ over her head, then grinned a little. "Okay, okay, fine, let's go and I'll see for myself." There were definitely times when being in new places was a tad bittish difficult.

Sarril chuckled and said, "Yeah. You'll see."

He beamed them over to Hasaris. They arrived on a floating island high in the clouds. Other similar islands of rock could be seen suspended in thin air nearby and in the distance. It wasn't certain just what was on the surface, as only a sea of roiling mist could be seen far, far below.

"Okay, now _this_ is neat," Jasmine commented, turning slowly in a full circle to get a good view. She didn't bother asking what kept the islands floating, assuming it'd be one of two answered, a shrug and 'dunno' or the more common 'magic'.

Sarril grinned. "There's the Castle in the Clouds, up over there," he said, pointing to one of the nearby islands. It was dark, shadowy, probably haunted too. "Best arrange some transportation eh?"

"At least it's not a dark and stormy night," Jasmine mused, looking toward the castle, imagining a flash of lightning to illuminate it starkly against the clouds... and snickered. "They have hovercars here?" she asked, turning her attention back to Sarril.

"Broomsticks, flying carpets, pegasi, or griffins," he replied with a coy grin. "Take your pick."

"Griffin, definitely griffin!" Jasmine replied enthusiastically, grinning. "I'll forgive this horrid place's lack of a decent car, and your bringing me here for that. Oh yes."

She'd seen them before, had even touched one, but the female who roosted back at the castle just didn't take well to the idea of carrying anyone.

Sarril giggled lightly and headed down to the stable on the edge of the cloud-island. There were griffins in gold, silver, black, and white, with gold being predominant. Some of them were lazing around dozing, or eating. Some young ones were playing.

Jasmine trotted after him, her expression lighting delightedly as the griffins come into view. They were beautiful, and the chicks were just so... _cute_! She'd never gotten over the fascination from the first time the griffin had decided the castle looked like a lovely nesting spot, much to her Sire's dismay!

"I'm going to birdnap one and take it back to the Nexus," she declared, _mostly_ joking.

Sarril chuckled and went over to the office. A sleepy-looking winged woman was at the desk working night shift, and Sarril went to rent transportation for a few hours, passing over some little colored crystals.

Not a moment's attention was paid as Sarril walked off, Jasmine remained watching the griffins with a quiet smile. The nightmare had been impressive and beautiful enough in its right, but there was just something so _majestic_ about griffins! ... Plus they were somewhat less likely to decide that you looked like a good dinner choice.

She looked across as he returned, and grinned. "What took ya so long?"  
"The ariel at the desk was half asleep," Sarril said. "Take your pick." He went over to pat a male black griffin.

"Black never goes out of style," Jasmine replied, parroting the saleswoman of the night before almost perfectly,then crossed to take a closer look at the male. "Oh, you're just a handsome devil, aren't you?" she crooned, reaching out to stroke its neck, and cut an amused glance at Sarril. "And you may as well forget blackmail, my family already knows I'm crazy."

Sarril chuckled softly. He got the male harnessed up, not having bothered with paying to get that done for them too. Jasmine scratched just beneath its beak, murmuring as she looked at how the saddle works for a griffin.

"I could introduce you to such a lovely girl, maybe you could even teach her that a passenger wasn't such a bad thing..." She chuckled and sighed, returning to more normal tones as she moved back along it to the saddle. "Ah well, off to the castle of doom, mmm?"

Sarril chuckled and strapped himself into the harness. "It's not too far."

He took off. Off to one side, they got a very clear view of a waterfall pouring down from one large island above onto Tesfin Island and pooling into a lake. On the island above, dragons could be seen in the distance flying in the air. But Sarril guided the griffin over toward a smaller island toward the west, which was dominated by the castle that he had pointed out earlier. Jasmine settled in behind him, scratching the creature's back once more before turning her attention fully back to the task ahead.

"There are some really nice worlds out here," she remarked, watching the islands pass amid the 'sea' of mist below and beyond the sweep of the griffin's wings. She could get used to this, it'd be soooo easy to do... Sit! Stay! She commanded herself firmly and straightened in the saddle, more business-like.

As they approached the castle, it became pretty clear that the place _is_ haunted. There was even a pair of skeletal knights flanking the main gates.

"That's not necessarily a good sign," Jasmine said.

She boosted herself in the saddle to look over Sarril's shoulder at the island as they approached. Maybe they'd get lucky and find that the place was run by a lich like the one who'd been more interested in the self-flagellation of Hemingway, but she wasn't about to bet on it.

"I don't know the story behind this place, but it's been full of undead as far as I can remember," Sarril said. "I guess he thought he'd blend in well enough here."

Sarril landed them down to the east side of the castle a ways from the gates.

"Guess we'll find out," Jasmine replied as they land and she climbed down from the saddle. "Though there could be a problem if there's more than one vampire in there with the limited information we have."

Sarril tethered the griffin to a nearby rock and tossed him a treat and said, "We should be back soon, boy." He patted him again and headed in toward a small side entrance. Jasmine snuck a final scratch in, half behind her back, then followed after Sarril.

"Have you been here before?" she asked curiously, his choice of entry points an interesting one since she would have just assumed the front gate would be the most ideal.

"I've been lots of places," Sarril said with an evasive grin.

This appeared to have been something of a service entrance, and wasn't guarded. He slipped in through the door and into some storage rooms with dusty old crates.

"One of these days..." Jasmine gave him a Look, then grinned as she followed him onward, reminding herself to stick to _business_. "Now where would a wayward Kindred be hiding?" she wondered quietly.

As they headed on through the corridors, some insubstantial vaguely humanoid spirits drifted past them, but seemed to fail to notice them. It was a dark and dreary castle, with only arrow slits and narrow windows on the outer walls. There was a deserted courtyard with a dry fountain in the center.

"Cheerful place," Jasmine murmured, wondering what sort of undead actually controlled the place since a vampire was quite likely to maintain things to certain standards, at least in her experience. Admittedly, limited experience of one world, but still. Seeing a place decaying around you had to be _depressing_.

"Hmm."

Sarril headed down the stairs, into which there were some symbols carved onto walls indicating what was left and what was right. The corridor on the left had a skull carved into the wall, and the one on the right had a box.

"Right, it's generally a good plan to avoid areas clearly marked with a skull," Jasmine said, standing at the intersection a moment more, then turning to the right to see what was down that way.

They came to a very cheerful area with dungeon cells, torture chambers, some of which were still occupied by none-too-happy undead.

"This place could use a makeover," Jasmine muttered to herself. "It's so gothic dark ages. Yish."

She was going to try avoiding drawing too much attention from the cranky-looking dungeon denizens, or think about the dark stains that marked the floors from far too much use, and would continue quickly through unless accosted.

The inhabitants seemed more inclined to moan and suffer than bother them any. At the far end of the dungeon, they came to another set of stairs with the same markings on the wall, this time on the opposite end.

Jasmine looked accusingly at the markings, stuck her tongue out at them, then mutters something and headed warily in the untaken direction. She drew the elven blade and kept it in hand, just for comfort sake, mind you. Right.

The place they ended up appeared to be a crypt. Urns, coffins, sarcophagi line the walls and niches. Most of them appeared to be empty and open.

It was the 'most of them' that gave Jasmine pause, but she entered nonetheless and went to check on one of them that wasn't broken open and clearly empty. Considering the time of day, she wouldn't expect expect a Kindred to still be lounging about but one never knew...

Sure enough, there was a vampire sound asleep inside. His clothes were shabby and torn, stained with blood, and he did appear to be a fairly normal human.

"What the..." Jasmine looked really puzzled to find him there, and added that to the list of things to ask when he woke up. "Ummm. Hmm," she muttered.

She looked at the blade, then at the vampire, knowing just how grouchy a Kindred could be when wakened from sleep. Carefully, she reached out and poked him in the shoulder, then leapt quickly back. He stirred, grumbling a bit and looking a bit annoyed at being woken up, but at least didn't seem about to attack them or anything.

That was a good sign, at least, and Jasmine re-sheathed her weapon to increase the 'not here to skewer you' image she tried to project with a smile. "Well hello there." Not _yet_ anyway, she amended silently.

"Guh... Wanna sleep more... Why you wake me up..." He muttered a bit and climbed out of the coffin.

"Actually..." Jasmine donned a cheerfully inquisitive expression. "Why _are_ you sleeping in the middle of the night, anyway?"

He looked at his watch and said, "Meh, sun only went down an hour ago." He looked at them. "Who are you?"

Ah, a late sleeper, she'd known a few of those, always late for appointments unless they thought ahead. At least it wasn't as potentially dangerous as the _early_ risers!

"I'm Jasmine," she replied, avoiding tossing Sarril's name out there unless he decided to do it himself, just for the possible recognition factor... _no one_ around here would have clue one who _she_ was. "And you are...?"

"Sablesha," he muttered, stretching a bit. "What're you doing here? Oh, did Vadrak send you with new orders? About time, I'm getting sick of sitting in here. There's nothing good to eat up here."

Jasmine hmmed inwardly and decides to take a chance. "Actually no, he's got me running all over the place getting status reports." She rolled her eyes and let loose a long-suffering sigh. "Be great if he would bother telling people ahead of time, or even giving me much more than a _world_ to look on, but noooo...." she trailed off with a sudden, frightened look around, as though afraid of having been overheard in the tirade.

Sablesha grunted. "Well, you can be sure to tell him nothing interesting is happening here. And nothing interesting has happened in the last three months. Not since the demons went back home at any rate."

"Since the demons went home?" Jasmine arched a brow, then smirked. "C'mon, you _know_ what he's like, any kind of detail is possibly of interest. Boring to you just might make interesting for him, and maybe a bonus or two for _both_ of us when I report back."

"That was months ago," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "The raven demons got driven out of the Abyss for some reason since they wanted to follow some... different god, Tzeentch or something... and some of the others got pissed off at them... so they set up in a castle some ways from here. But then they left, presumably back to the Abyss, after the war ended, I guess."

Jasmine shook her head and looked around. "I wonder why he has you watching some out of the way dump like this, if nothing's going on?"

"You can ask him that, I don't know," he said. "I guess he wants to know if something _does_ happen, but it sure is dull."

"Maybe he's trying to find out something about this castle?" Jasmine mused, then looked back at him with bright interest. "Have you found anything out about it? There's an awful lot of undead running around here."

"Well. There's a lot of dead people here. Most of them aren't very talkative. Some people think it was cursed or something. I don't know."

"Hmm, okay, well thanks." Jasmine smiled brightly. "This has been the simplest stopover so far! I'll get out of your hair and back to the billion or so I have left." She smirked, waved a little, then headed back out.

Sablesha nodded, waved, and meandered off down a random corridor. Sarril followed Jasmine out, sniggering quietly as they get out of earshot.

"See what I mean," Jasmine said quietly when they were sure to be out of the range of the enhanced senses of Auspex and well-on back to the griffin. "Vadrak doesn't exactly pick the sharpest stakes in the box." She rolled her eyes.

Sarril said, "Clearly. I'm starting to think he just raided a slum or something." 

He returns to where they'd left the griffin, untethered it, and climbed on and strapped himself in. Jasmine scratches absently at the beasts neck and croons to it, then climbs up after Sarril.

"It really puzzles me, though," she said. "He has these people stationed all over the place, and most of them so far have been on total dead-end details. Sooooo... what the hell is he doing? Misdirection? Total barking insanity? What?"

"I have... no idea," Sarril said. "And I suspect that we're not going to find out unless we ask him, and maybe not even then."

"Errr," Jasmine hedged. "Asking a meth something like that is either going to get a question in return, like Stormy when he was in 'teaching' mode, or get you blasted into the next century. Might not be such a good idea, even if it _is_ bugging me!"

"Exactly," Sarril said. "So, let's see. What to do..."

While thinking, he steered the griffin over past the Dragon Isle, lakes and mountains sprawling out below them.

Jasmine sighed. "I don't know, but I have the feeling that chasing these guys down one by one isn't going to get us much of anywhere. Nasty suspicion and paranoia time, that we're just not going to have any idea until he decides to do... whatever he's doing, unless something eats him first."

She turned her gaze pensively to the scenery unfolding beneath the griffin's wings.


	15. Strike Team

So after thinking a bit, Sarril brought them down to land again, not that the view was particularly unpleasant. He returned the griffin to the stables in Tesfin and headed back to Torn Elkandu.

Jasmine was content to let the time pass and allow the scenery to absorb her attention for the most part while the subconscious worked at the puzzle. Unfortunately, she knew her own limitations and a detective or sage of enigmas she was not, so it wasn't unsurprising to her that no sudden inspiration had struck in the interim. Well, no _sudden_ one, but... She headed back to Torn Elkandu as Sarril did.

Sarril went and took a seat at a nearby table adjacent to one of the restaurants and pulled out his computer and poked at it a bit. Then he pulled out the card Falk had given him and glanced over it thoughtfully. "Hmm, what do you think?"

Jasmine glanced curiously over, taking a seat as he drew out the card, finding it odd to see a completely blank one save for a neatly printed number in one corner, but didn't pry. She shrugged.

Jasmine said, "I really can't think of anything else to do, other than tracking his childer down one by one, and even if he noticed that I doubt he'd _care_ unless we got directly in his way. So... I don't know."

"Worth a shot, I suppose," Sarril muttered, tapping at the device absently and putting in the number.

"Specify location," the computer read helpfully, and he put that in as well. Silly helpful extradimensional communications devices things.

Jasmine looked at him, wondering who used a blank card like that, didn't seem like much of a way to drum up business...

Three rings were all that pass before the call was answered with a brief, "Your dime."

Sarril was a little puzzled at the phrase, but just said, "Er, hello. This is Sarril Farmer..."

"Ah right," Falk replied, and Sarril could hear some sort of machine whirring in the background. "Decided to drop on by? Hope you got that problem taken care of, things are a bit hot for the shadows just now."

"Er, yeah," he said, not really used to this entire 'phone conversation' thing. "I came and told them Vadrak's on the loose and he's got people all over the place..."

"Yeah, heard something about that," Falk said, the whirring sound falling silent, followed by a wet ripping. "Been keeping an eye out on this end, Grant passed the word. So, what can I do for you?" His voice was blank and distant, as though he was in another universe in more than one way.

"I know where he is," Sarril said, wondering vaguely just what all the sounds were, but didn't ask.

"Oh?" Falk asked simply.

Sarril had caught him at a good time, at least, a few minutes earlier and he wouldn't have gotten an answer. The bloodsucker had led a merry chase across the States, taking refuge with one Ventrue after another and continuing on after draining their hospitality dry. Real bitch, he thought to himself as he looked down at the newly-made corpse, but wouldn't be bothering anyone else again. He picked up the nearby briefcase by its handle and turned his back as the vampire lost substance and silently reverted to dust.

"Yeah," Sarril said. "He's holed up in a heavily warded castle on a little out-of-the-way planet called Wegana. I don't know what the hell he's up to but I've already been attacked by four different vampires for no apparent reason."

"Sounds like the type to use people as fodder," Falk replied coldly, not bothering to ask how those encounters had turned out since the answer was pretty obvious with Sarril walking around. "Wegana, didn't make it out that way while I was there," he continued, "What type of climate?"

"Forests. Mountains. Fairly pale sun," Sarril said. "Yeah, he doesn't exactly seem to pick the brightest people for childer. But he's got them all over the place. One who _didn't_ attack me on sight who thought I was working for him too said that he was just supposed to be keeping an eye on things and tell him if anything happened..."

"Right," Falk replied, making mental notes on a few things. "Considering the locale, what kind of mystical shit can be expected? Anything more on this bloodsucker than you passed along to Grant?"

The data had been pretty extensive, considering it had come from the Eyes, but it never hurt to ask when thinking over the basic preparations.

"The wards were probably already there when he moved in," Sarril said. "But he might have had them reinforced or put up other defenses. Depending on who he's got working for him, could be any damned thing by now, he's apparently been loose for months if not years..."

Falk chuckled quietly. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeves, don't worry." He'd dealt with the Tremere and their wards for years, including ones which had been set specifically against him, and his trip to the Elkandu plane hadn't exactly been wasted. "Give me an hour, then meet me at the Nexus," he went on, "Want to double-check something, before I head that way to say hello."

"Alright, see you there," Sarril said.

The connection was cut without another word as Falk headed off to take care of what he needed to in the interim. Jasmine looked on with quiet interest, curious as to what specifically was going on, but reined it in to let Sarril explain or not... though she'd probably smack him if not!

Sarril stretched a bit and said, "Well, sounds like Falk's on the way. So, you wanna come along to the extremely dangerous and doubtless heavily protected castle with the powerful, old, crazy vampire, or go home?"

Jasmine grimaced. "Sounds like fun?" She gave it a little thought and smirked. "You sure know how to pick your company, don't you?"

Sarril grunted. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch one way or another..."

Jasmine gave Sarril a long, serious look, then sighed softly. "Yeah, I'll go along and watch your back. Whatever gods may be know that _he_ won't." And with that kind of vitriol directed at Vadrak, it was questionable if _Sarril_ would be too watchful of it either. Pfft, men!

"For what he did to my mother, my father..." Sarril gave her a faint smile, and said, "Thanks."

"I can understand that," Jasmine replied quietly, or at least she could understand the sentiment since she'd go to just about any length if anything happened to her family. "So," she said with deliberate brightness, "When are we off to beard the lion?"

"Falk said to meet him in the Nexus in an hour," Sarril said, glancing absently in that direction.

"Which is how long here?" Jasmine asked, then chuckled. "Not that we're likely to miss him or anything."

"Which is an hour..." Sarril said, a little confused. "Usually we try to keep the definition of an 'hour' the same to avoid confusion." He chuckled.

"Yeees," Jasmine drew out, grinning. "But is that an hour _here_ or _there_? Didn't you say something about time passing differently from place to place?"

"That was primarily before the Nexus was recalibrated after the Elkandu Crisis," Sarril says. " _Usually_ it's nice enough to stay in sync these days. Usually."

"Oh." Jasmine replied and rubbed her temple. "This place is enough to give a vampire a headache sometimes. Oh well," she brightened. "At least there's some things to compensate for it, so I guess I won't complain. Too much."

Sarril chuckled. "Just assume that an hour is an hour most of the time. Though don't be too surprised if it's not. It's not like it used to be, before the Nexus was adjusted, when you could go back in time ten thousand years and not even realize it..."

Jasmine smirked. "Oh come on, I've seen a lot of interesting things out here, but you can't expect me to swallow _time travel_. That's the stuff bad old B-grade movies and Trek re-runs are made of!"

"Technically," Sarril said, "Lezaria was colonized in the twenty-second century, Earth time, which was, nine or ten thousand years ago or so."

"I'm sure NASA would love to get hold of some of the things running around out here," Jasmine said. "Oh sure, they sent out some seedships in the late twenty-first, but they're nowhere near catching up with something like the Eyes of Truth." Not quite accurate or fair, but then the Glass Walkers kept a lot of things quiet until it was judged the public eye was ready for them...

Sarril tapped his computer and brought up the information that the Eyes of Truth has on the thing. "They didn't even have faster-than-light travel at the time. Three ships were sent in the initial flight to Lezaria, and a fourth one arrived later on..."

Jasmine edged her seat over to take a look at what he was bringing up. "Hmm, maybe not _too_ far off, then. I didn't pay all that much attention to the hype, though a bunch of people _leapt_ at the chance to join the project for some bizarre reason. I wonder if they'll end up on a world like Lezaria?" An odd thought, but with the similarities in the different universes, who knew?

He chuckled. "It could happen. In this timeline, at least, the pressure to colonize space was due to the devastation after World War III and the manastorms from the Elkandu trying to 'fix' things..."

"I can see how that'd be a pretty important thing," Jasmine agreed, "Not to mention getting away from all the crazy factions that were going around at the time!"

"The funny thing was, when the Elkandu went to twentieth century Terra, they didn't even realize they were actually going back in time. Hence part of the issue from the Elkandu Crisis -- They created a paradox, so they thought, but as it turned out, their own actions actually _caused_ what was supposed to happen in the first place, which caused the Elkandu to exist... which caused the Elkandu crisis..."

"Which has caused endless feedback loop headaches over the years, I'm sure," Jasmine said dryly. "That's always been the big theme when it comes to the concept of time travel, just what changing something in the past would mean to the traveler's present. All sorts of crazy ideas came out of it, I even remember some fringe group coming up with a war-time contingency plan in the event it became possible to travel back and assassinate."

She smirked and shook her head, not having a great deal of faith in the wit and wisdom of people in general, much less nutballs like _that_.

"Usually it doesn't work," Sarril said. "With the concept of multiple timelines, usually if somebody goes back in time and does something to change what would have otherwise happened, they end up splitting off a new timeline. Of course, that point is moot if they decide to stay in that timeline instead of the one they started in, but the one they started with is still there and nobody there would even notice anything different."

"That's... reassuring, I guess," Jasmine replied. "Just as well that the tech-surge after the Awakening _didn't_ bring something like that out of the woodwork, I can only imagine the mess of split-off timelines that would have been created during the Unification Wars. Sure, probably would have been developed by one side and they would have tried to keep it secret, but just like nukes it would have gotten out. Then all the bright boys in the deep holes start tossing out their favorite killers..." She scrunched her eyes shut. "Ooh, that _would_ be a mess!" Her eyes open and she looks over at him, "So why hasn't that sort of total mess happened here, if time travel's possible?"

"Who says it hasn't?" he said with a smirk. "From the looks of things, a lot of the alternate timelines around today were due to somebody trying to stop World War III. I'm pretty sure Karzan was the result of that considering the timing of the split there. But considering there's already any number of alternate timelines, it's not really something anyone would really notice unless they went around checking them out."

"Heh, good point," Jasmine admitted. "And you'd have to _find_ the timelines first, which is probably a pretty difficult thing to do on it's own I'd bet. Suppose I'll just have to be thankful that it didn't come up back home, considering how crazy some of the various people have been... I mean, playing polo in a hospital? Having 'keggers' on open streets?" She rolled her eyes.

Sarril nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Normally people don't bother with most of the close alternate timelines unless they're trying to hide from somebody and decide to go to a timeline that, say, is just like where they were except Jami doesn't exist." He snickered softly. "The ones that are thousands of years different are at least interesting."

"So what about places like that Keolah person mentioned?" Jasmine asked. "I can see the Star Trek thing, they obviously had a link to Terra, but Star Wars? I'm pretty sure Lucas never mentioned rednecks, pickups, and Country Western anywhere in his most depraved and wretched notes..."

"Well... it was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away?" He shrugged. "Who knows? Not every alternate universe seems to have a reflection of Earth. Some are just kind of there."

Jasmine snickered at the quote, nodded. "Fair enough, I guess. Can't expect the universe to make _too_ much sense, otherwise what would the scientists and conspiracy theorists have to keep themselves occupied?" She looked thoughtfully at her watch and hmmed.

"Some Elkandu theorize that everything ever imagined or dreamt of exists somewhere out there," he said. "Some go so far as to say that 'imagination' itself is merely a glimpse at someplace else."

Jasmine looked surprised at that theory, then grinned somewhat impishly. "I don't know, reality might not be ready to go _that_ far." She stood up and waved back in the direction of the Nexus. "Almost time."

Sarril chuckled, closed up his computer and pocketed it again, and headedover toward the Nexus.

They got there with a few minutes to spare, and Jasmine spent the time looking over the framework of the Nexus itself out of idle curiosity. Falk blinked into existence with the same suddenness as any other traveler, but most of them probably didn't usually have a gun half-drawn as they went through or take quite the thorough look around them as he did from behind the dark wrap-around shades.

His stance eased, the hand withdrawing from under the heavy leather duster as he walked off the platform and nodded to Sarril. "Let's find someplace quiet for a few. Gardens should work."

Sarril nodded in greeting and acknowledgment to him and headed off down Earth's Road toward the gardens.

Falk strode briskly alongside, and Jasmine remained silent as she fell in on the opposite side. A flicker of energy could be felt around them, and the sounds beyond their immediate vicinity dimmed as Falk said, "Sorry, had to finish a bit of business and collect a few thing, just in case."

"No worries," Sarril said. "I'm sure the old bastard isn't going anywhere anytime soon."

"Considering how long it generally takes for any of them to do anything, I doubt it," Falk agreed calmly. "Depends on how much he was paying attention to his fodder, though. Even the old ones can shag ass when they get the feeling that someone's on to or coming after them. Cross that bridge when we get there."

Sarril nodded, and said, "Considering the ones we talked to said they hadn't heard from him in months, he probably hasn't noticed that there's a few less of them out there now."

"A good possibility that he wouldn't care, too," Falk replied. "Arrogance goes hand in hand with a lot of them, and over-confidence. There's definite disadvantages to the bloodsucker mindset, same as with the Elkandu, namely that it leaves you with some serious fucking blind spots." He smiled a thin, predatory smile, shifting his grip on the briefcase he was carrying. "I like to think of them as windows of opportunity."

Sarril chuckled. "If I ever get like that, do me a favor and kick my ass, please."

Falk turned the impassive mask of his attention to the other man for a moment, "It's what I do." He returned to the path ahead of them as they neared the gardens. Jasmine made a quiet, discreet expression of distaste, but remained silent.

Sarril didn't seem particularly bothered by it, strolling off casually into the gardens. He didn't sound like he was entirely joking either.

Once they were a little ways in, Falk stopped and set down the case. "Okay, time to check the freqs on the old glasses. Had them made up a while back to deal with the Ravnos and Lasombra specifically, lots of little enhancements and alternative means of seeing things built in to get around the potentially deadly effects of illusion." He stepped back and folds his arms. "Hit me with your best shot."

Sarril nodded and threw up a globe of intense darkness around them. A brief moment later, Sarril felt a tap at his chest, off-center just above the heart.

"Okay good," Falk said. "Looks like the tweaks I did on the software adjusted just fine for the refinements to the abilities here."

Sarril released the illusory darkness and nodded. "Okay. Anything else?"

"How bad do you want this scumbag dead?" Falk asked.

Sarril gave him a look that rather clearly said what he'd love to do to him personally.

Falk smirked. "Fair enough. So what we're gonna do is this. I'll drain him to the dregs, keep it for later use." He gestured vaguely to the case. "After, you can get your own bite in and finish the job, getting a boost in the meantime from your grandsire. Sound fitting?"

Sarril gave a nod. "Very well."

"Won't get into details otherwise," Falk added. "Just say he'll be very regretful, very briefly. So let's get to it." He started off back to the Nexus. "I assume the fluff's not coming with us, yes?"

It took Jasmine a second to figure out who he was talking about, then she glared daggers into his back.

Sarril cleared his throat, and restrained what he thought about saying, and said, "She knows it'll be dangerous, and she wanted to come anyway."

"Her funeral," Falk replied blankly, not really caring one way or the other. He knew who she was, of course, having been acting as Selenis' Scourge when she'd been embraced, and didn't really have a problem with the Ista branch of the Torrie clan. Didn't mean he would hesitate if it came down to removing her as a danger if something happened on the way, though. Didn't care about the glares he could feel boring into his back, either.

Sarril made no comment, heading back toward the Nexus with him after an apologetic look to Jasmine. Jasmine caught the look and then smirked at her reaction, probably just what the smarmy little bastard had been trying to provoke. Well two could play _that_ game! She tilted her head in a shrug, grinned a bit at Sarril, and whistled a lively little tune as they walked back to the Nexus.

"Wegana, right?" Falk asked.

"Yeah," Sarril said.

When they reached the Nexus, they saw Sedder pacing around, frowning. He looked up and brightened a bit when he saw Sarril.

Falk didn't pay more than a flicker of attention to the man, at least not visibly, and set to getting ready to depart. He was silently attentive, however, as even small details could mean a considerable impact when on the job.

Sedder said, "Sarril!" He hopped over to them, looking fairly worried. "I think Azale's gone off and done something stupid."

Jasmine had a moment of complete unsurprise at the announcement, but was far better at the social side of things and a bit more humane in that regard than _him_ (Nooo, not a grudge-bearer at all!). "What happened?" she asked, displaying concern.

"He ran off to poke around Vadrak's castle," Sedder said. Sarril groaned softly.

"That can't be good." Jasmine winced. "What was he _thinking_?"

"You mean he thinks?" Sedder said with a smirk. "If you're planning to head off that way, I'll go with you."

Falk went dead still at that announcement, then turned slowly back to the others. "Look," he said flatly, "I'm sure this is very distressing to you, but this isn't work for a fucking _committee_. You do understand that there's someone out there who's hiding in his own haven, ready and waiting, right? This is _not_ a good time to bring along a damned circus."

Sedder promptly completely vanished so well even Falk couldn't pick him up until he felt a poke at his nose, then Sedder reappeared off to the side. "I'm not some fricking dead weight, I'm the best damned Illusionist there is."

Falk seemed unfazed and unmoved as he replied coolly. "Illusion. Great. I'm sure..." he stopped suddenly, cutting it off like a razor and looks back to Sarril, "Your call. Do you really want this asshole dead, or are you looking for a carnival? I'll be blunt. I am a killer, that's what I do. You want my advice, then leave the baggage before it ends up costing you."

Sedder said, "I'm more interested in finding Azale than killing him. I'll leave that to you."

Sarril thought about it for a moment and said, "Fine, when we get there, you and Jasmine if she wants can go try to find Azale. I'm not going on a fucking rescue mission for the idiot, though."

Jasmine just looked at the others, shook her head once. "Yeah, I'll help you go find Azale," she said, even though splitting up was a bad idea in her book... Didn't like the idea of leaving Sarril without cover with him either, but... she sighed softly and mentally threw up her hands in defeat. He'd probably keep an eye out, seemed revenge was something he approved of at least.

Falk nodded once in approval, the changed arrangements quite satisfying to him. "Works for me, come on." he turns back to the Nexus.

Sarril nodded and he and Sedder went to the Nexus with him.

Falk had gotten a good familiarity with the Nexus during his stay, one of many things he'd taken back from the Elkandu universe with him, and he finalized the destination after a moment and stepped through without another word. Jasmine followed the others, the misgivings about the situation ratcheted up another notch.


	16. Vadrak's Haven

They arrived on Wegana in a grove of shadowy blue trees near a castle. The pale sun was currently in the sky. It wasn't as harmless as Torn Elkandu's little blue mockery, but not exactly on the "oh my god it burns" level of certain worlds. The castle looked sealed up tight to stop even the faintest bit of the pale sunlight. The trees go right up to the walls.

Neither Jasmine nor Falk seemed to be overly bothered by the sun overhead, though Jasmine did appear edgy as she looked around. Falk, in his element as he went to work, simply shrugs and headed down toward the castle. Getting in would be the first task, and he was rather tempted to try the simple route before anything too... inventive. He'd try knocking first.

The front door was keyed to open on a specific sequence of knocks. Of course, said sequence was very simple and Falk just happened, by chance, to knock exactly that sequence. The door automatically swung open.

Falk didn't look back as the door opens, and walked quickly inside to take a quick reading of the immediate surroundings. Simple sometimes worked best, and taking a more direct route would also provide some small distraction for the others on their mission. He wasn't a complete bastard, just very practical.

Once inside, the door closed behind them, shutting them in darkness. Vadrak apparently didn't even bother with ominous torches or anything. Sedder, completely unfazed by the darkness, said quietly to Jasmine, "The dungeons, probably." He put up a spell to make them invisible to others but keyed to allow the four of them to see them.

Falk was unbothered as well and took the change calmly and glanced over at Sarril, "Let's go say hello, eh?" He didn't bother for stealth or any other appearance that he didn't belong there, looking like he _wanted_ to draw attention to them as he moved out.

Jasmine looked at him oddly, but then turned to Sedder, her own eyes flickering with a quiet red glow, "Uhhh, right," she said softly. "Any idea where the little idiot might have decided to poke around?"

"No idea, but he probably ended up there soon enough," Sedder said, heading down a side corridor.

He shortly located a staircase heading down and took it. The minute they entered the dungeons, apparently they triggered some sort of trap or something and a heavy metal door slammed shut behind them. Sedder rolled his eyes.

Jasmine jumped a little as the door slammed, then smirked. "Someone's been watching too many old horror movies. Sheesh. Come on." She headed further into the darkness, keeping an eye out for anything moving or out of place. 

Several cells down, they saw one occupied by something that vaguely looked like Azale. He looked terrible. His clothes were ripped and torn, blood leaks out of him onto the ground, and some parts of him appeared to be melted into silvery goo.

Jasmine winced as they found him, but didn't say anything as she looked for a way to get the cell open. He might be a twit, but he certainly didn't deserve _this_!

Sedder muttered, "Bloody hell, what did he _do_ to him?"

The cell appeared to be fairly well warded and she failed to find any handy dangling keys or anything. Failing that, Jasmine would try a more physical approach and tested both raw strength and the elven blade against the cell bars, looking for some kind of weakness in them or the walls nearby. The bars were a lot stronger than they looked, apparently.

"Have to get him out of here," she muttered grimly.

Sedder muttered and tried to reach Azale telepathically to bring him to his senses. After a long moment of concentration, Azale started babbling, "Muh-muh-muh-muh-uh?" He blinked for a moment and looked up.

"Hey there," Jasmine said gently, crouching down near the bars. "We're going to try and get you out of there. Not having much luck yet, though." She bit her lip thoughtfully and looked around.

"Ugh, I feel awful..."

He melted into a puddle of silvery goo and oozed toward the bars, but the wards kept him securely in anyway. He then shifted back into elven form. Some more blood squirted out of him as he did so and splattered onto the ground, but he didn't seem discomforted by it. He scratched his head. At least his clothes were reformed when he did that.

"Let me see if I can find how this thing is locked. Take it easy, okay?" Jasmine said.

She sat on the ground and went through the brief process of separating mind and body. She really hoped there weren't any of the really nasty things over here that she'd seen elsewhere, and she kept a careful spirit eye on the thin silver cord connecting her to life as she scouted the immediate area.

She did locate the trigger to unlock the cell in doing so. Once the cell was open, Azale stepped out and said, "Oh, hi Jasmine. Guess it's just as well you didn't want to drink my blood after all? Vadrak was puking up silvery crap for an hour after that."

Jasmine chuckled softly and offered him an arm for support. "Serves him right. Are you okay?"

Azale said, "Yeah, I'm alright. Apparently, metamorphs can't be vampires." A little more blood squirted out from somewhere. He smirked.

Jasmine grimaced. "Come on, you need to get patched up and I don't think this is a good place to hang around and do it. Let's get back to the Nexus, Sedder can get you to a hospital or something, then you can get back to a bar and relax a bit, right?" She smirked. Of course as soon as she got back she'd probably head right back via the Nexus, but didn't mention that.

Azale shook his head. "Nah, don't worry about me, I'm fine. And the healers couldn't do much for me anyway."

"Well let's get you out of here anyway, hmm?" Jasmine replied with a small grin. "Looks like you've had enough adventure for one day, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, just give me a few to collect my thoughts and analyze this ward and I can probably slip us right out."

"Let's hope so." Jasmine smirked. "I don't think I like the idea of spending my nights down here with a certified nutcase. What _were_ you thinking, by the way?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Sarril and Falk came along a darkened corridor. It was pretty deserted at the moment, it being daytime, but not completely undefended. A fierce-looking shaggy dog chained to one of the doorways smelled them, and it snarled and snapped at them as they came close.

"Nice doggy, don't suppose you know where Vadrak's at, do you?" Falk smirked. "I'd be surprised if he isn't listening, very surprised, and really would like to have a chat with him. A family reunion of sorts, even."

Ridiculous, perhaps, but he'd seen stranger things than intelligent guard animals and insubstantial listeners. The dog didn't respond except to try to gnaw his face off, albeit hindered by the chain.

"Don't say I didn't offer, Vadrak," Falk remarked offhandedly.

He drew a heavy-caliber pistol from under his coat and fired a glittering silver round at the animal's head. His own special concoction, silver with a chewy phosphorous center the kept right on burning when the silver impacted, great for the shapeshifters and bloodsuckers in your unlife.

The dog dropped to the ground, and Sarril smirked at it a bit before continuing on. Through the door the dog was guarding, they came to a wide staircase with thick plush red carpeting.

Falk returned the pistol to its holster and continued on, the familiar whiff of ozone from the weapon's mass accelerator serving as a sharp focus for his thoughts. He continued on and crossed to the staircase, Auspex and instrumentation in the glasses flickering to check the floor and stepped along the way for any hint of a mechanism that would constitute a trigger for a trap.

There was indeed a pressure plate on the first step that would trigger if the wrong person stepped on it. Judging by the compartments in the ceiling, it appeared to be set to pour flaming oil on unwelcome visitors. Not particularly good for the upholstery.

Shaking his head, Falk pointed the stair out to Sarril. "Watch your step." He did a double check of the stairs _after_ that one, having encountered more than one leech that thought it quite amusing to give their visitors a false sense of security, then continued upward.

He didn't pick up anymore traps until he reached the top of the stairs, where some of the floor plates appeared to be set up to give way and send them down chutes below the floor. As this castle was here before Vadrak moved in, one had to wonder how much of this was recent renovations, and how much was put in by the (paranoid?) original builders.

Falk indicated the next trap to Sarril and passed it by, not really thinking too much about it. The Kindred in general were paranoid, it was like the Elkandu who didn't bat an eye at the bizarre... it was just the way things _are_. There was always something trying to kill them, most often the people they'd pissed off or other bloodsuckers. Sucked to be them. He moved on.

There were some uninteresting rooms off to the side with the doors ajar. Bathrooms, spare rooms with assorted junk, furniture, and such in them. A few of the closed side doors had sleeping vampires in them. But the end of the hall sported a very large, ornate, gold-inlaid heavy wooden door.

Falk never had understood the penchant for ostentatious display that seemed an innate part of being a leech, even the ones out here. He shook his head once and approached the door, scanning carefully in several ways for the next layer of security. He rather expected he'd be needing the little flashbangs he'd packed.

Unsurprisingly, the place was warded up, locked, guarded, and sealed up tight, but he located several traps and alarms and could disable them readily enough. Likewise, the lock, while magically augmented, ended up being easy enough to get open once he figured out how.

That was easier than anticipated, though Falk had to admit that the instances that had been worse were in Tremere chantries. As to the warding, it was time to call on the gift the Gargs had passed on to him to ward against their creators, which he'd since identified as something far more widely useful than the original Countermagic discipline. So many of their abilities were like that, too bad he had no problems adjusting. Anti-magic, a wonderful thing.

The door at lest swung open to let them pass, revealing a posh sitting room with a table and some chairs, an empty bottle and several wineglasses on the table. On the far side of the room there was another doorway. Lush carpets lined the floor, and old tapestries hung from the walls, some of them having been moved to augment the blocked windows.

The next trap was purely magical, and triggered before they could even detect it, but Falk's antimagic foiled it before it even managed to actually do anything at least.

Falk closed the door behind them and went through the brief effort of resetting the physical locks, best to leave the other vampires on the other side for a little bit. The sprung trap as they continued on was a pointed reminder to remain alert and suspicious of the faintest traces that would indicate nastiness waiting. Vadrak must be somewhere near...

Sarril was fairly impressed by Falk's displays and was glad he called him in. The far door wasn't quite as heavy or grand as the outer door, but it was still pretty sturdy and also, of course, locked and trapped.

A show for the minions, Falk smirked and tried his hand at disabling this particular round of traps and wards. "Reminds me of a few castles I've visited on the clock," he remarked absently as he worked.

It takes several minutes, as while these did not at first glance appear to be as strong or powerful as the ones on the outer door, they were a good deal more complex, and removing them without accidentally triggering something took a good bit of work. Sarril waited patiently, eager to finally have a chance to destroy this monster.

Falk was nothing if not patient, this 'hunt' had actually proceeded at a far faster pace than he usually encountered, though he was quite glad that the additional weight had separated. Hopefully they'd made good use of the time, but he'd worry about that _after_ the primary task was completed here. Once the seals were undone, he'd proceed with usual caution, again resetting the manual locks behind them.

They emerged into a wide bedroom with a canopy bed, the thick curtains pulled tight around it. There were large oak dressers and a broken mirror off to one side, the pieces of it still piled on the floor beneath it.

How dramatic! Falk smirked at the shattered mirror, imagining the fit of pique which had likely led to the display of anger. How very sad. He rolled his eyes beneath the cover of the sunglasses then flickered through the various modes of vision available to him physically and through Auspex (more commonly Seeking with a few twists, he knew), to verify the presence or absence of anyone in the shrouded bed.

There was definitely someone there, and very much asleep at the moment from the looks of things. There didn't, at least, appear to be any more traps in the bedroom itself.

Falk didn't draw any of the various weapons he carried on him, the most potent things in his bag of tricks had nothing to do with anything so mundane. He walked quietly over toward the bed, motioning Sarril cautiously forward, and went to take a look past the curtains...

Sarril crept up close with him, and gave a nod when he recognized the sleeping figure there. Vadrak was still fast asleep, clearly not having noticed their approach at all or putting too much trust into his various defenses.

Arrogance and overconfidence were two incredibly common traits among the Kindred, and they were two more things that Falk didn't share with them... a good part of why he'd survived as long as he had doing what he did. Now the wolfman might not have been happy to have some part of the old Tzimisce blood make a showing in his childe, but Falk had put it to good use and learned a few more things about it along the way.

Change, what they called it here, wasn't limited to the touch range that the Tzimisce were with Vicissitude, and he reached out with a sharp tendril of it to accomplish several things. First would be to sever the spinal column, second the optic nerves, and third the vocal cords, all in precise, short order to leave the leech blind and immobile. Anatomy was a wonderful thing.

Sarril watched in morbid fascination as he quickly disabled the old vampire, who only then noticed there was anyone else in the room, and of course, panicked uselessly.

"Right." Falk nodded in satisfaction and went to retrieve the briefcase which he returned with to sit on the edge of the bed. "Now, Vadrak, I left your hearing intact because I wanted to have a little chat before this was over," he said in a clinical, detached tone as he drew a long needle connected to a tube out from the lower edge of the case. "This is going to hurt a bit, but I'm sure you'll be comforted to know that your descendant, Sarril, was here with me and waiting to make sure you don't suffer too much."

He jabbed the needle into the vampire's neck, driving it into the jugular, then turned to open a latch on the briefcase's side and press a switch. A whirring sound that Sarril recognized from the recent call sounded as blood was drawn out through the tube.

Vadrak would very clearly love to say quite a few interesting and doubtless foul words about the situation, especially with regards to Sarril. Sarril himself watched curiously, not showing the least shred of compassion toward the man. He had expected to have the chance to do a bit more on this little venture, but wasn't going to complain about how things turned out.

Falk gauged the supply with familiar ease and pulled the needle out at last, letting the suction work a moment more before returning tube and needle to the case. He stood up, gripped the handle, and stepped away from the bed.

"I'll leave you two to finish your catching up," he said, "Don't take too long, mm? Diablerie is a very useful tool." Too bad it was going to take one of the original Clan founders to do _him_ any good by now.

He walked over to stand casually by the door, folding his arms and attaining a vague nonchalant pose as he propped casually against it. Sarril nodded and took his cue and went to it with a grin.

Falk couldn't blame Sarril, he'd killed bloodsuckers for less personal reasons, though there'd always been the element of... evil sounded corny, but there were plenty of them that just _were_. At the moment he was undecided as to whether or not to sweep the place clean of any unlife, not sure that there might not be one or two among the residents who weren't total wastes of space. 

"For what you did to my mother, and my father..." Sarril whispered to Vadrak. He proceeded to finish the job fervently.

"Ready to go?" Falk asked after allowing a suitable amount of time to pass. "Unless we want to clear every bloodsucker out of this place we should probably get going before morning wake-up calls go through."

Sarril took one look back and gave a nod, and said, "Let's go."

Falk collected the case, then went to head back the way they'd come. "Probably a good idea to check and make sure your entourage found what they were looking for, and nothing else," he said.

Sarril gave a soft snort, and avoiding the traps and returning the first floor, and headed down the corridor that they had gone down. The heavy metal door to the dungeons, however, remained sealed.

Falk looked at the door thoughtfully, then shrugs and uses Protean to assume the form he had been fond of for quite a while now. The same snake that would inspire a panicked reaction had been _his_ reason for choosing it originally. Remembering the bitch's reaction to it still made him laugh when he thought of it. Adding claws and the strength of the form to Potence, he'd try the brute force approach on the door for variety.

The metal creaked loudly and snapped open. Beyond it, the three of them were still standing around, and Azale was mid-sentence rambling about the complexity of the wards and some magical technical jargon and saying, "Almost got it... er, oh, guess I don't need to after all. Hi guys."

Jasmine was a little more inclined toward freaking out at the sight of the thing, remembering the old rumors and occasional sightings of the snake-bitch in Selenis. Seeing Sarril behind, though, dispelled the instant of panic as she put the two together and... was still really freaked out at seeing another aspect of Falk.

Falk flexed his claws, then returned to his normal form with a slithering of coils as they vanished. "Ready to go?" he asked blandly.

Sedder said, "Definitely. I was starting to wonder if I ought to smack Azale for taking so long figuring out how to get through the wards."

Azale said, "Hey, I almost had it. Hey, guess what I found out? Metamorphs can't be vampires. And don't try to drink their blood either." Apparently, his shirt morphed into a black T-shirt that said "Bite me".

Falk looked at Azale, expression unreadable. "Tell me that that idiot didn't even _think_ about embracing you..."

"Well, he _tried_ ," Azale said. "It didn't work very well."

Falk muttered a curse and rounded on Sarril, pointing a finger at him. "Don't _ever_ think about turning a shapeshifter, and make sure your brood and any other bloodsucker out here knows the same. If the idiot leech is _lucky_ they'll get their faces eaten off, if they're not then they end up with an Abomination, something you _really_ don't want to see."

Sarril said, "I definitely wasn't planning on it."

A little more blood squirted out of Azale from somewhere. He mumbled a bit, then turned into a giant towel and tried to wring himself out. Sarril just stared.

Falk glanced over at the look on Sarril's face, shook his head once, and headed off through the door. Their work was done, including the rescue of someone who clearly would have fit in well with the Malks or as a Ragabash, either way the creature was nuts, but safe for now.

Jasmine wasn't really sure what to make of Azale, other than him being quite, ummm, colorful, and probably a good idea to stay away from unless she wanted to be driven to punching someone. She smirked at him and went to follow Falk out, pausing briefly to give Sarril a once-over and smile before continuing on.

Once he managed to get most of the icky blood out, he turned back into an elf and strolled out after them, whistling a little tune poorly. Sedder elbowed him and he stopped.

Falk waited for them to catch up in the entry hall. "Everyone ready to go now? Nothing being left behind or unfinished? I doubt this place is going to be very peaceful after finding their head leech is deceased."

They couldn't think of anything, and Sedder shook his head, and Sarril said, "Let's get out of here."

Falk nodded and headed back out, waiting only until they'd passed the wards before Recalling to Torn Elkandu. Jasmine followed the others thoughtfully. Likewise the rest appeared in the Nexus. Azale was looking at Falk curiously with a strange expression.

Falk's mind was on something other than an odd look from an oddball, and stepped away from the Nexus to take a slow look around. "Hmm, wonder how Vadrak's pawns will react to the news?" He glanced at Sarril. "I haven't run across any sort of governing body for leeches here, is there one?"

"Streyka's in charge of Lezaria," Sarril said. "I'm not sure about Mezulbryst at the moment. Most other places don't really have enough vampires to require such a thing."

Azale interrupted, "Say, why does your aura look like that?"

Falk's head turned like a turret to face Azale, "What do you mean?"

Azale said, "Nothing!" and quickly hid behind a bench. Sedder sighed and rolled his eyes.

"If you're going to ask questions," Falk said flatly, "You should be ready to do so, evading the question tends to be far more annoying once it's voiced."

"Sorry," Azale said, poking his head up cautiously. "I just never seen anything quite like that before."

Falk sighed with faint exasperation. "A little more detail would be appreciated. I _am_ familiar with the various aspects of Seeking and aura, and can likely answer your question."

Sedder looked about ready to smack Azale too. Azale just gave a brief description. Sarril was smirking faintly. Falk explained the oddity of the black lines in short, clipped tones, something he didn't draw attention to Sarril over. The myriad of other things, well, the World of Darkness had some oddities involving crossing Talents within the same Disciplines, which had made strengthening them further, when he truly got a good look at how things _could_ be, much easier.

"Oh, okay," Azale said. "Can I go back to hiding now? I already pissed off one powerful undead this year." He paused. "... okay, two, maybe."

"Trust me," Falk replied deadpan. "If you'd pissed me off I'd have already broken something or done something more violent. Anyway." He ignored the thoughtful expression Jasmine was studying him with and looked at Sarril. "We're done here, right? You have my number if anything bloodsucker-related pops up."

Sarril nodded and said, "Alright. Thank you. I'll certainly sleep better knowing there's one less son of a bitch who would like me dead."

"You know it." Falk grinned thinly, tossing a lazy salute off as he walked back up onto the Nexus platform. "That's why I sleep like a baby. Ciao."

He activated the Nexus and vanished back to his point of origin, probably to inform the local parties of interest that the meth in question was no longer an issue, though his brood was still out there.

Sedder gave a wave also, collected Azale, and returned to the Crux. Vampire blood might not do anything for him, but he could still clearly absorb alcohol perfectly fine.


	17. Icewall

Sarril looked over toward Jasmine and said, "Well, that's taken care of at least."

"Yeah," Jasmine replied quietly, then looked at him searchingly, "You okay?"

"Never been better," he replied. "Why?"

Jasmine smiled and shook her head. "Just asking. Not like I expected _him_ to keep an eye out on you or anything, any more than I was 'surprised' that he would have probably just abandoned Azale there..." She bleched. "You didn't see what a mess he was when he first came out of it, Vadrak really messed him up."

Sarril made a face. "I guess metamorphs and vampires really don't mix all that well."

"Shapehifters in general," Jasmine replied, grinning a little. "Don't let the display at the caern fool you, most Kindred are just as likely to try to slit a fuzzy's throat as work with them and the same goes in reverse. Only thing that keeps that from happening is the treaty and what happens if anyone breaks it."

Sarril nodded. "Metamorphs are a bit odd though, in that they can turn into _anything_. Thankfully they're pretty rare."

"So that explains Azale turning into a big towel and wringing himself out." Jasmine smirked. "Never seen anything quite that odd before, but I'm getting the impression that's pretty standard for Azale."

Sarril nodded in agreement. "It's better than before, when he couldn't control it... Apparently after Shai died, he just snapped a bit and ended up absorbing a ton of raw chaos, and turned himself in a metamorph inadvertently..."

"Blood bonds can do weird things to your mind," Jasmine replied. "Not surprising that it caused him to snap, considering his, umm, unique personality traits."

"He's a lot more stable now than he used to be." Sarril stretched a bit. "So, what do you want to do now? Go home, or take the time to do a little more sightseeing?"

Sightseeing sounded delightful, if not quite in the context suggested. _Down!_ she commanded herself sternly, though grinned at the self-admonition. "Humm, I don't have any pressing business, if you're free and aren't too terribly busy. Although," she snapped her fingers, "Also have to sell a few things so I can take care of that."

"If you like," he said with a coy grin.

"Don't." Jasmine glared at him and waggled a finger, though she didn't explain, instead grinning and turning attentive. "So, where do we begin?"

"Wherever you'd like," he said. "There's the whole universe out there, after all."

"You really know how to make an offer, don't you?" Jasmine replied slyly, then hmmed. "We can cut out any fiery or perpetually sunlit places, I'm sure that narrows the choices down a _little_. As much as I loved the movies, I wouldn't really want to visit Star Wars, I'd be afraid of running across Ewoks and being forced to enact a scene of horrid, graphic violence on them."

Sarril laughed aloud, and went over to take a look over the time zone chart a bit. "Hmm," he said. "I know! We can visit Sasherey!"

"Sounds good to me," Jasmine replied cheerfully. "And I'll even avoid asking what's there and just play along like a nice, obedient little tourist!"

Sarril giggled and goes to the Nexus, did a little pirouette, half-bowed and extended his hand to her.

Jasmine bit her lip, stifling the urge to giggle at the display, and just hopped up to take his hand, "Lead on, O Wise and Noble Native Sage!"

Sarril activated the Nexus and teleported them to Sasherey. They came out high atop a frozen cliff top overlooking a faintly sparkling city below. To the left, there was an ice castle perched high atop the cliff. White dragons could be seen playing in the air in the distance. Off to the right, a sea of frigid black water stretched, adrift with icebergs. In the starlight sky hung blue and silver moons.

"The more I see," Jasmine said, voice distant as she took a long look around, turning in a slow circle to get the full view. "The more I think staying home is a drag. Oh..."

Sarril grinned broadly. Sarril said, "Sasherey is under-appreciated, really. Probably because of the whole, you know, freezing cold thing."

"What's a little cold compared to... to... _this_?" Jasmine threw her arms wide to take in the entirety, then looked at him with a grin and a bounce. "Okay, time to go _see_ it!"

He grinned again and gestured to her to lead the way. The castle wasn't too far off, and there was an icy stairway leading down the cliff side toward the city. It wasn't until they're nearly to the castle that Jasmine stopped, noticing something, and looked down at something, then at Sarril with a grin.

"Wellll, I suppose seeing Legs trekking over the snow made me realize something else," Jasmine said. "I'm not the least bit cold and not sinking at all into the snow. Note to self: Thank maddening, frustrating, enigmatic elves appropriately someday."

Sarril chuckled softly. "You would think, you know, with all the enchanted everything the Elkandu use, that they'd just use magically thermal clothing here." The castle didn't look to be particularly occupied from out here.

"That would make sense," Jasmine agreed. "But then there's that whole 'can't make _too_ much sense' clause, or the universe would probably crumble. Anyway! Hrm..." She looked at the castle, then started to it again with a chuckle. "What is it about castles around here? Are there any of them that aren't abandoned or inhabited by the undead?"

"I'm sure there's no undead in this one. Well, until we got inside at least. And I'm sure the dragon won't eat us, either."

"Drrrrrragon..." Jasmine came to an abrupt halt and looked at him with an arched expression. "Annnd you're mentioning the possibility of being eaten by a giant lizard just now, why?"

"I'm sure we'd give him indigestion."

Jasmine smirked. "Oh fine, but if this dragon is willing to chance it and _does_ eat us, I'm holding you responsible and will demand appropriate reparations." She headed for the entry again after tossing out the flippant remark.

Sarril chuckled and strolled casually inside. The castle was most exquisitely carved in unmelting ice (because the temperature never went above freezing here, clearly), and Sarril didn't seem to have any trouble with not slipping on the clearly icy floor either. Probably wearing enchanted boots or something. As they continued on through, she spotted a young dragon hatchling, all pure white with deep black eyes, who made a soft cooing sound at them.

Jasmine took her time gawking about in touristy fashion at the castle, the thing reminding her of a few winter festival things she'd seen over the years, but stopped suddenly as she heard the noise.

"Well now," she said softly, looking to the hatchling. "What have we here?"

Hungry or just friendly? She wasn't quite sure of which just yet, and wasn't sure whether finding out would be a good idea. The critter was just a baby, around five feet long from the nose to the tip of the tail. It cocked its head at them curiously looking them over and squeaked, then scurried back off down the corridor.

Jasmine grinned as she watched it go. "Poor little guy probably was wondering the same thing about us as I was about him. Guess when you're the small fry of dragon circles, even a vampire looks scary."

She chuckled and walked casually onward, not looking to startle any others they might run across... after all, _mama_ had to be around someplace, and it wouldn't do to have _her_ annoyed that them.

Deeper in the castle, they came to a wide courtyard in which they saw an enormous and elegant female white dragon feeding fresh meat to two more youngsters. Sarril paused at the edge of the courtyard to look at them.

Jasmine stopped as they encounter the dragon and edged to the edge of the passage, then crossed her arms and propped a shoulder against an ice wall to watch them for a few minutes.

"I wonder what it is about flying fantasy critters and castles?" she wondered idly. "I guess when you can go over the walls, they _would_ look like a pretty safe cave to raise hatchlings in."

The dragon glanced over to them but didn't appear to see them as any sort of threat. "If you're looking for Blizzard, he's in the treasure room," she said.

"No ma'am," Jasmine replied with a polite smile and pushed away from the wall, clasping her hands behind her. "Not really looking for anything, just... looking. I've never been here before, it's a lovely castle."

"Ah," she said, "Well, as long as you don't bother the young or pilfer from the horde, look all you like."

"I wouldn't dream of hurting them," Jasmine replied honestly. "Never even liked hunting normal animals, certainly nothing so beautiful as beings such as yourself!" Flattery went a long way, a part of herself laughed, but it was also true.

The dragon seemed satisfied with that and resumed feeding the hatchlings. At least it appeared that she kept them well-fed enough that they probably wouldn't try to find out what vampire flesh tasted like.

A good thing on many levels, not the least of which was personal survival! Probably make them sick, if the supernaturals back home were any indication. Jasmine watched a minute more, then moved on, careful to try and not draw too much attention from the hatchlings by moving too quickly.

Down the next corridor, they came upon a large room full of gold, silver, gemstones, crystals, jewelry, magic items, and such. There was another, larger white dragon here lounging about languidly.

Remembering the legendary touchiness about dragons and their hoards, Jasmine crossed her arms and clasped her hands over her upper arms as she walked in and saw the dragon. Never hurt to be a bit obvious in your caution! "Hello there, Blizzard!" she called out brightly.

He glanced up and blinked large, deep black eyes at them. "Ah. Visitors. Greetings. What brings you to Icewall Castle?"

"Him," Jasmine replied with a grin, pointing at Sarril. "Though admittedly at the behest of a rather pushy tourist in his company. It's called Icewall Castle? Suitably named, and very impressive in its construction! I'm sure it makes a wonderful home."

"It is more than sufficient for our needs," he replied. "Although I must frequently repair the damage the young do when gnawing on the ice carvings."

"I'm sure they must go through teething phases, like any other young," Jasmine chuckled. "The ones I saw looked like a lively, healthy bunch. Hopefully you don't get any uninvited guests that seek to hurt anyone here."

"Not generally," he said. "The penguins can't climb the frozen stairs, and the snow elves know well enough to leave us alone. And most silly humans who fancy themselves dragonslayers tend to do so in places less likely to freeze their genitalia off."

Jasmine laughed at that, finding the formal tone and the irreverence of the statement itself a delightful contrast. "I'm glad to hear it," she said, still showing amusement, then brightened at a sudden opportunity presented. "You know, I've always wondered something about dragons, if you don't mind me asking..."

He lifted his head to look over to her curiously. "Hmm, yes, what is it?"

"Well," Jasmine looked around at the collection of precious metals and other valuable objects. "Just what _is_ it about a hoard that appeals so strongly? I've only met one before, and that in passing because he knew my Sire, anything else is just fantasy novels and movies back home."

"One might ask the same with regards to humans and their proclivity toward acquiring widescreen televisions, computers, stylish furniture, fashionable clothing, and such."

Jasmine laughed again. "Your point, Sir Dragon. And I suppose it _does_ make more sense than getting the castle wired for broadcast television and high-speed internet. The hatchlings probably find it endlessly fascinating in its shininess, too."

"Quite," he said lazily, stretching a bit. The room was quite large, and might have once been a throne room or a banquet hall of sorts before the castle was abandoned by whoever constructed it.

"Out of curiosity," Jasmine remarked, taking a few steps backward into the hall and looking upward at some of the designs above. "Who built this originally, do you know?"

"Humans, long ago," he said. "Before they moved south to warmer climates. The snow elves occupied it for a time as well."

"So, humans built a castle of ice, _then_ decide to move someplace warmer." Jasmine smirks. "Sounds about on par for the usual 'making sense' tally where people are concerned. Well, thank you for your indulgence, we shouldn't take any more of your time."

"I've come to expect about as much from humans," he said, absently counting out a pile of gold.

Jasmine chuckled and headed out, replying with light humor. "So have I, so have I." None of the supernaturals made any sense back home either, but then they all ended up being tied back to humanity in one way or another, didn't they?

Blizzard curled back up on top of the pile of coins and dozed off again, and Sarril meandered quietly out of the chamber.

Jasmine waited until they were a polite distance away, not wanting to disturb the dragon's rest, and cocked a thumb back in that direction with a smirk. "How sad is that? A dragon has more sense and self-respect, staying to itself and enjoying the simple things of life, than a, thankfully now-deceased, Kindred whose hobbies included screwing people over and being a major pain in the neck. Tsk."

Sarril snerked softly and nodded in agreement. "Told you they wouldn't eat us, eh?" He grinned.

Jasmine smiled, setting her pace to an idle stroll. "Yes you did, I suppose I have to be more trusting the next time you make such seemingly implausible statements. You haven't been _too_ far off so far, at any rate."

Sarril laughed lightly. "Shall we head down to Aymiaysia now?"

"Most assuredly," Jasmine replied amiably. "I think we've seen about all the general tourist could wish for in the ice palace!"

Sarril strolled out onto the Icewall again and down toward the frozen stairwell leading toward the city.

"Who lives in the city?" Jasmine asked, sauntering lazily along, "it didn't sound like the humans stuck around the area for long... the snow elves Blizzard mentioned?"

Sarril nodded. "Yup. They aren't even bothered by the cold. Walk around half naked all the time."

When they came in sight of them, she saw this was apparently true. The snow elves had pale skin, pointy ears, and white or silver hair, (a rare few of them with blond or black hair), and didn't seem to be bothered by the cold at all in spite of being dressed up as if they were on a tropical island.

"Brrr, that just _looks_ chilly," Jasmine commented, the elves walking around half naked causing a shivering memory of long cold winter nights... and they wouldn't even bother with the fun part of warming up in front of a fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate! 

The elves looked at them oddly. They didn't frequently see humans or half-elves walking around here who weren't bundled up in thick furs. But they were quick to take advantage of the touristry by attempting to sell them snowcones, carven crystals, and such at stalls along the streets.

"Snowcones, I bet that's a real bumper crop around here," Jasmine muttered low to Sarril, but otherwise just smiled and shook her head at the various attempts to pass off touristy kitsch. Sure, she collected stuff, even the occasional knickknack, but she was picky.

Aside from the fact that the city appeared to be as much built of ice as it was of stone, and that it was well below freezing out here, the city appeared much as any other might. There were shops, restaurants, houses, taverns along the streets. Although one unique feature of the city was the archways of elegantly curving ice providing walkways from second-story buildings.


	18. Rattish Interruption

Sarril, of course,was perfectly happy to show Jasmine every remotely interesting sight he could think of on the Elkandu worlds. Well, excluding sunny beaches and lakes of molten lava and the like, of course.

Jasmine, for her part, was more than willing to tag along and see what was out there. Back in the World of Darkness there were plenty of things to see too, of course, but she'd had an entire lifetime to get around to them since her Sire actually traveled more than most Kindred. Vampires as a whole weren't ones to leave the safety of their havens and go gallivanting about, but there were always exceptions to the rule.

Worlds with lots of lava were out, naturally, but beaches weren't a bad place to be, at least after sunset. The tang of salt on the air, exotic plants... avoiding the freaks who tended to be tourists there, the usual touristy things. Besides, as long as she had a, um, willing native guide, she considers it was worth playing along.

So, after a good deal more of viewing the ice caves of Sasherey, the forests of Wilderplane, the glass palace of Sunmun and the Obsidian Tower on Glassandia, the beaches of the Seventy Islands, Sarril stopped back in Torn Elkandu for a bit.

"So what do you think of this all?" he asked.

Jasmine stretched lazily, taking her time at answering the question, then grinned slyly at him. "Best time I've had in ages, a girl could really get used to all the tasty things out here... hey!" she exclaimed indignantly as someone bumped into her and walked away from the Nexus, two people actually that make a matched set in bland street clothes and leather overcoats, carrying a couple of boxes each.

One of them muttered a semi-polite, 'Excuse me' as he continued on, the other just kept walking. She looked at them for a second, then made a face. "What're _they_ doing here?"

Sarril quirked an eyebrow and said, "Who? Wha?" He glanced off at them.

"Blech," Jasmine replied distastefully and rubbed a hand on the arm she'd be bumped on as if something foul was on it. "There goes the neighborhood," she muttered, then smirked over at Sarril. "That bloodline is pretty distinctive, not just in general appearance but in the blacks. No idea what the Scourge are doing _here_ though."

Sarril looked to be even more confused than he was before. "Uh. Who? What? Blacks? Scourge?"

Jasmine restrained a giggle at his confusion, she couldn't blame him for it by any means, but it... She cleared her throat and replied with deliberation, "Blacks is a loose slang for the lines that appear in the aura of a diablerist, and the Scourge... blech, you've already met their founder. I don't think I want to know what Falk found so interesting about this place."

"Oh," Sarril said. "So what's so bad about them, then?"

Jasmine smirked and looked a bit uncomfortable. "It's not that there's anything really _bad_ about them, per se, and really even the rumors revolve around people who _deserve_ what they get... But what do you _think_ Kindred are going to feel about a group that's sanctioned to kill them? I even understand it, since it's really tough to keep a vampire locked up without endangering others. Still..."

Sarril shrugged. "I can't say it bothers me. From what I understand, unless I completely missed something here, if someone had reason to fear, they'd deserve what they got anyway."

"I didn't say it was _rational_ ," Jasmine replied, grinning wryly. "Just that the idea is a little nerve-wracking as a whole, especially considering where rumor says he's gotten the majority of his childer... from hunter groups. Couldn't have picked a better boogeyman approach, though."

"Heh," Sarril said. "Well, somebody has to do it, I suppose. Most Elkandu who consistently misbehave in extreme and destructive ways tend to turn up dead or just disappear. Technically soulfire is supposed to be illegal, but nobody is going to tell Suzcecoz that."

Jasmine waved a hand dismissively and strolled casually in a random direction. "Oh Kindred kill each other all the time, it falls under the unspoken Seventh Tradition: Thou Shalt Not Get Caught. I think it's just more the... I don't know, the _way_ they go about it, totally outside and not giving a damn what anyone thinks, then _BAM!_ Someone's just... gone."

"So what _do_ you suppose they're doing here? There aren't exactly a lot of vampires around here. Well, until Vadrak went and started embracing everyone in sight at least. Hm."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too," Jasmine smirked. "That's one thing to give them credit for, they go wherever Kindred might cause trouble and deal with it. The Nexus would probably be an ideal central ground, even for operations in the World of Darkness, no more than a couple minutes to get there and you can go _anywhere_. Now _there's_ a comforting thought!" She shuddered.

"Heh. They don't have any Dream Ninjas do they?" He thought back to what she'd said earlier. "Right, what you said about entering the Ethereal physically."

"That'd be the fuzzies that can do that," Jasmine replied. "Though if anyone on the Kindred side could figure it out..." She shook her head. "No, I'm not going to put it past _him_ to already have that one sussed out. Why?" She glanced at him, curious as to the reason behind the question.

"Right. The Dream Ninjas. They think nobody knows they exist." He smirked. "They were trained to be capable of entering and exiting the Ethereal at the blink of an eye, especially to use that as an advantage in combat. And few wards work against Dream Magic... They could literally appear anywhere on a moment's notice."

"That's one of the big things that the fuzzies had over us and made it difficult to really fight them," Jasmine replied thoughtfully. "And since the Scourge work officially for the government and the fuzzies, as well as the occasional Prince and who knows what else... Uh yeah, wouldn't surprise me in the least."

"Not to say it's impossible to ward against dreamwalking," Sarril said. "Most anyplace these days that can really be considered secure in this universe has to be. Now, appearing anywhere using the Nexus isn't all that much of a feat, but appearing anywhere _without_ it... But then, I only know of two people who can bypass wards, and not always easily. Azale and Suzcecoz."

Jasmine snickered. "Yeah, poor Azale wasn't having much luck getting us back out past Vadrak's wards. Good thing you showed up when you did, I can think of better company to keep for the night." She smiled with pronounced innocence.

"Yeeah," he said. "I'll admit I had other things on my mind at the time." He smirked.

Jasmine sighed sharply in exasperation, then went back to the earlier topic. "Tell me about these Dream Ninjas, other than sounding like a secret service agency with Python-esque stealth abilities when it comes to keeping their existence quiet, and a silly name of course."

"Can't say I know much about them. Just knowing that they exist is a step above most people. But I know they were responsible for the latest death of Aitur. They were in and gone before anyone even knew what happened."

"Aitur." Jasmine frowned, cut a glance over to Sarril. "Nasty elf, castle on Daresa in the unpronounceable city, lich and other undeadites taking residence, and lots of property damage showing? I thought Streyka was in on that, didn't exactly look 'quick and quiet' to me."

"No, no. That was from when Darkhammer had control of the place. The last time Aitur was killed -- around the fifth or sixth time he got whacked -- he was set up on Lezaria."

"Someone really needs to set up a screening process for letting people get back among the living." Jasmine smirked. "You'd think once or twice would be enough for someone to learn to chance their ways, but five or six times? Now _that's_ a dedicated wacko."

"Concur," Sarril said. "Hence why it got to the point where he couldn't survive a day after making himself known and trying to take over a planet."

"Obviously not the brighest Crayola in the box," Jasmine remarked bemusedly. "Surprised they haven't set up an Emergency Aitur Broadcast System just to keep an eye out." She snickered at the image of sirens going off and warning people to please proceed calmly to the nearest Aitur shelter.

"They did have a station offering free ear plugs in Torn Elkandu at one point," he said. "So powerful, and yet could be foiled so very easily."

"Yeah," Jasmine chuckled. "My grandsire had that little problem too, but then it got a little more difficult when you had to juggle all the other things to do like not meeting her eyes in any way or letting her touch you, all without hearing anything. Fun stuff, really."

"Thankfully it's only teppers who you need to worry about touching you," Sarril said brightly. "Do keep that in mind when we visit Edron and Lezaria more whenever. They're the ones with completely white eyes. No iris or pupil."

"I tend to avoid that anyway," Jasmine replied dryly. "You get tired of being pawed in Elysium after enough years of it, and eventually find that taking a page from Falk's playbook on the thing works wonders from getting them to leave you alone. A broken finger or smashed nose here and there, simply amazing how quickly they can learn... which is to say that they're really stupid and it takes _years_."

Sarril chuckled. "Edron's a funny place. Usually it's common courtesy to keep your hands, arms, every bit of skin covered, even in the summer. But there's a few of the stronger ones who flaunt their power by walking around half-naked and scaring the crap out of everyone."

"There's always going to be Anarchs in any society," Jasmine replied. "But at least they're generally harmless, too busy conforming to the nonconformist fashion that they don't really stop to think about what they're doing."

"So you don't like people touching you. Does that include me?" he said coyly.

Jasmine looked at him in quiet surprise, then smirked as she turned and forced him to a halt by the simple expedient of standing in his path unless he decided to run her over! She reached up to curl a hand behind his head and drew him down for a kiss.

"I make the occasional exception," she replied in a sultry purr.

Sarril certainly didn't seem to mind at all. "Mmm. I'm glad." He grinned broadly.

Jasmine grinned mischievously and drew away, clasping her hands primly as she settled back beside him. "Humm, now where were we?"

"Torn Elkandu," he said. "Soul's Road, around halfway down."

Jasmine glared at him. "You're not helping get things back on track, y'know. And it's your own damned fault for preying on my fondness for chocolate."

Sarril laughed lightly. "Uh-huh. If you say so." He grinned at her.

"Oh come on." Jasmine smirked and grabbed him by the arm. "You can finish showing me all the best parts of Torn Elkandu. The nice, quiet, undisturbed ones."

Sarril only grinned more and headed off. As it turned out, Torn Elkandu had a lot of little quiet, tucked away spots that were not occupied by anyone else at the moment.

Jasmine was more than inclined to explore them thoroughly and at length, just enjoying the sights, mind you, and indulging a bit of a sweet tooth where applicable. It wasn't every day that someone like Sarril wandered by, after all, and once wouldn't hurt anything... other than the occasional grumble later at knowing that a second or third romp would be strictly out of question. Siiiiigh.

Dark chocolate, pfft, someone clearly didn't know their confectionary products! All the sweet and none of the bitterness of dark chocolate, more like the mellow smoothness of Stouffers... like an Easter rabbit, perfect and ripe for nibbling. Rawr. A shame that such treats were necessarily limited in a Kindred's diet.

Sarril was perfectly happy to oblige and indulge for the moment. And with no sun, he'd be perfectly happy to continue to do so, too. But after some while, he reluctantly collected himself, grinning like a fool, and headed back toward the Nexus again.

Jasmine lazily did the same, strolling along with a relaxed and smugly satisfied air. "Torn Elkandu certainly has its interesting side," she remarked casually as they approach the Nexus again.

"Mmm, yeah, that's an understatement," he said with a chuckle. He stood and glanced over the time zone chart absently, although his mind was clearly elsewhere.

"Mm, so what's still out there?" Jasmine asked curiously, sidling to take a casual look at the map as well. "I think we can still avoid the lava lands," she added dryly, "The Beast is never terribly happy about those."

Sarril chuckled softly. "Lots of things, certainly. Hmm, don't think you've seen much of Lezaria yet, or as I mentioned, Edron."

"Lezaria or Edron, hmm..." Jasmine began in reply.

Promptly, one four foot tall rat with a faintly glowing crystal talisman appeared in the Nexus and said, "Vampires! Vampires! All over the place!"

She started at the sudden intrusion and looked around with sharp interest for signs of what the strange being might be talking about... well, other than Sarril and herself, of course, since they hardly counted as an invasion force! Not seeing anything of drastic importance, she looked puzzled.

"What's he talking about, I wonder?" Jasmine said.

Sarril shrugged helplessly.

The rat looked at them and said, "Not _here_ you silly bloodsuckers. Over _there_!" He waved his hands vaguely at the Nexus.

Jasmine looked in that direction, then smirked as she glanced back at the rat. "Pointing at the Nexus is kinda vague, don't you think? That could mean a billion or so places, give or take a few million."

"Point," he said. "But here I was poking around this one world. And there were a bunch of vampires there. And shapeshifters. And other funky stuff. It was crazy!"

"I know of one of those," Jasmine smirked. "And I wouldn't exactly call it crazy... that's not an acceptable diagnosis, from all I've heard. I'm afraid you'd have to ask a psychologist for all the right ones to describe all of the 'interesting' defects, though. Out of curiosity, just where _were_ you?"

"Someplace the Nexus labels the 'World of Darkness'," Setti said with a bit of a face. "Funny name for a place that isn't all that especially dark, isn't it?"

Jasmine laughed lightly. "Oh, now I see. No, it's not really dark, but that's when all the interesting people come out to play..." At least as far as _she_ was concerned, even back as a ghoul the daylight hours had been comparatively dull and drab. She grinned with a theatrically evil twist. "When else would the things that go bump in the night haunt?"

"Hey, you wanna help me out with something maybe? Well, I certainly wasn't going to ask that one fellow, but you might do!"

"Maybe..." Jasmine replied cautiously, casting a look at Sarril and then returning to Setti. "What is it?" Kindred weren't renowned for being helpful sorts, overall, and she wasn't too inclined toward dispelling that image without a good reason. Too easy to get into trouble that way.

"Oh, I just wanted to see if you were affected by a Turn Undead spell," he said, smiling not-particularly-innocently.

"Uh-huh," Jasmine replied unenthusiastically. "Sorry, but I don't think I really want to take up a career as a test subject..." She grinned suddenly, sparkling with impish quasi-malice. "Though if you _really_ want to try it out, there's a couple others who were wandering around here, impossible to miss em in their trench coats." She pointed in the direction that Falk's childer had gone.

"Ah, it wouldn't hurt a bit. I'd just cast it, and you'd try to kick my ass... Of course, if it didn't work, that might hurt _me_ a bit, if you weren't feeling particularly nice, but uh, I've got other things up my sleeve! Really!"

Jasmine smirked. "Right, and I'm sure there's absolutely no possibility that it would backfire and turn out to be some sort of incineration spell, right?"

"Course not. What do I look like, a pyromancer to you? I'm a fricking Soul Mage. Look at my aura, for cripe's sake. Not a spot of red."

"Oh yeah, that's going to inspire all sorts of trust," Jasmine replied dryly. "Maybe another time, sorry." Maybe she'd pencil him in on the third Tuesday after hell froze over. Maybe. But she doubted it. 

"Okay, admittedly, I could probably come up with an undead destruction spell, or maybe a spell that turns them alive again, I'll need to so some more research... Anywhere, where were these others you mentioned? I got paid well to tell that one fellow how to get here! You better not be giving away my trade secrets!"

"Nope, not a chance," Jasmine replied firmly, having _no_ intention of passing along that info to any others among the Kindred back home, she didn't want to think of the ugly things they'd do to the delightful places she'd seen. She points in the direction they'd gone again, "And they went thattaway. You'll have to ask _them_ how they got here." She smirked, thinking he'd be better off asking a shark.

"Sure thing, I mean to do that!" He headed off in that direction to look for them.

"Yes, I know, that was evil," Jasmine remarked with a grin at Sarril after the rat was well away, "What can I say? It's in the blood."

Sarril snickered. "Soul Mage, nothing, he was a necromancer. You don't get that much black in an aura from nicely healing people helpfully. I hate to wonder just _what_ he was doing over in your world."

"There's plenty of Kindred that would leap at the chance to work with someone like that," Jasmine replied with distaste. "Though at least the Giovanni are mostly gone. Ick."

Oh they wouldn't go so far as that, wasn't really in their job profile, though Setti'd be less likely to get a chance to practice his little spell there than he might wish for. There might be a surprise or two in store on that end, though.

Jasmine looked thoughtfully at the map, then grinned a bit. "Hey, want to see a bit more of home? It may not be as spectacular as some of the stuff you've shown me, but I think you might like it." She looked at her watch, still set to WoD time to check whether it was feasible just now or not.

Sarril smiled. "Certainly. I don't think I've had much chance to see all that much of it yet."

"Well come on then," Jasmine replied brightly and headed over to set the Nexus for a somewhat unusual destination but one that she remembered quite well. She grinned as the thought popped up that she'd probably end up raising some blood pressure doing this.

Sarril grinned and followed her cheerfully. He didn't really care what happened to the silly rat, after all.


	19. Familial Introductions

The first impression as they arrived was of a great deal of open space around them, and the sky above was superbly visible... and close. They were standing to one side of a landing pad, looking behind showed a sleek black jetcopter sitting silently at the center of a clearly marked circle. Looking out... they saw a carpet of clouds that stretched far out toward the horizon.

"Oh," Jasmine breathed delightedly, "I love nights like this!"

A waning three-quarter moon hung above them, throwing a cool silver light across the battlements of the castle that was occupying the remainder of this island in the sky.

Sarril stared off at his new surroundings. "Nice," he said. "Where are we exactly, anyway?"

"Castle Griffin!" Jasmine replied with bright, impish enthusiasm. "Though I don't know that Dolen will _ever_ forgive Nicholas and me for suckering him into it. Come on, I'll show you around." She walked up and nudged him toward an outbuilding on the far side of the landing pad. "We can get down to the castle proper there."

A familiar screeching cry could be heard distantly on the night air, and a griffin could be seen shadowed in the sky.

Sarril chuckled a bit and followed after her, looking around with interest. "Very nice."

"Just don't ask what it cost to build it." Jasmine grinned as she strolled over to the entry to the stairs. "Small countries could be bought for less, the engineering it took to put a castle on top of a skyscraper alone was a nightmare! Nicholas got a little help on that from the Glass Walkers, though, even if he didn't mention that little detail to Dolen." Not that the elder hadn't _noticed_ , he just hadn't _said_ anything.

Sarril laughed lightly. "Yeah, I'd imagine so."

The landing pad and all of its trimmings were completely modern construction, but they encountered more archaic design at the bottom of the stairs and walked out into a stone-paved courtyard. A neatly tended garden occupied the far side, but Jasmine eyed it warily and moved at an angle to skirt it.

"Let's go this way," Jasmine said. "I'll be surprised if someone doesn't drop by to say hello shortly."

Sarril followed along, looking with interest at everything in sight, and said, "'Someone'?"

Jasmine grinned. "Don't let the castle look fool you, there's a fully modern sensor and security system watching us right now, and I'm sure our arrival didn't go unnoticed by my Sire. There's ghouls all over, too, and a small horde of Gargs that Dolen hired to protect the place. Speaking of..."

She looked back toward the garden and the shadows of a tree as an excited chittering emerged from the branches.

"Uh-oh," she said, smirking as she turned to walk in that direction.

Sarril absently wondered what her sire must be like. He looked over in that direction and followed after her. "What is it?"

"Trouble," Jasmine replies with a drawn scowl as she walked nearer and looked around the base of the tree, "Uh-huh, that's what I thought..."

Two large shadows looked up as they approached and resolved into over-sized rottweilers. They seemed a bit more than average intelligence, as one looked back to them while the other watched the tree carefully, then they switched duties.

"What did you do _this_ time?" she directed up toward the tree.

An indignant chitter answered her from the cover of the leaves, clearly proclaiming innocence.

"Uh-huh, sure, you can put away the halo, Dion." She smirked. "I'm not buying."

Sarril smirked faintly as he looked them over thoughtfully, but remained quiet.

The chittering turned to another tactic, shifting to a pitiful, pleading note, and Jasmine softened a little and looked at the rotties.

"Think you can let him loose? Maybe he's learned his lesson this time..." The slightly smaller of the pair snorted at that, expressing disbelief, and Jasmine laughed. "Yeah, I agree, Dee, but it's about time for dinner, isn't it? ... And no," she laughed again, "You can't take turns on guard while he starves!"

Dee expelled a breath in a sigh and climbed to her feet to amble over to greet Jasmine and the stranger.

"Dee and Dum," she smiled and crouched down to hug the dogs around the neck. "They've been around almost as long as Sophie."

Sarril chuckled softly. "Mmh," he said with a grin. "I see." He stretched a bit and looked them over some more.

Meanwhile, the source of the chittering above made a hesitant appearance in the lower branches of the tree, hoping that maybe he'd gotten a reprieve after all. It was about thirty to forty pounds of raccoon, which accounted for the prankster nature that got him into no _end_ of trouble when that got directed at Dee and Dum or someone else that they watched out for.

"I think it's safe," Jasmine chuckled.

Dion didn't hesitate after that, scurrying nimbly down the tree and then streaking across the courtyard to vanish into an archway. She held onto the dogs for a moment more, then smirked.

"Okay guys, he's got his head start. Go get dinner or chase him down, whichever sounds good."

The two dogs looked at each other, appear to think about it, then whurfed dismissively at the raccoon. Food was ever so much more important!

Sarril laughed lightly. "Lots of... interesting critters around here?" he said.

Jasmine smiled as the big rotties amble amiably off toward a different passage. "Yeah, Sophie's a Gangrel, they have an affinity for animals and each of the ones here have a story to go with 'em." She looked around, suddenly nervous again as she moved away from the garden. "Speaking of which, let's leave Walt and Matilda's favorite haunt alone. Rattlesnakes. Who the _hell_ ghouls _rattlesnakes_?" She shuddered.

Sarril laughed again. "Yes, let's. Where are we going then?"

"Right this way," Jasmine gestured to the passage the dogs had taken. "We're sure to run across most of the crew down thattaway."

She started heading in that direction, then stopped stock-still as a savage roar sounded above them in the direction of the castle's highest tower where a winged shadow was limned against the moon.

Sarril paused and looked up and said, "What was..."

The shadow leapt from the tower and swoops down on the warm night air, eyes flaring red as it stretched out its claws...

"Very dramatic, Chip," Jasmine called out, and rolled her eyes as she looked over at Sarril. "The Gargs really took the Disney thing to heart when we had this place built. Chip fancies himself a real Goliath... I'd say he's more a Broadway, _maybe_ a Bronx."

The gargoyle dismissed the almost-cartoonish image it had cloaked itself in, looking hurt as he stalked forward. Ugly thing, standing nearly eight feet tall and looking like a realization of the old gothic gargoyle carvings.

"Broadway?" he asked in a pitiful tone. "I'll have you know that this is all muscle!" He slapped his stomach, garnering a laugh from Jasmine as he added a bit of illusion to make it roll like a wave.

Sarril chuckled softly and gave a lazy wave. "Hello there," he said.

"Well hello!" Chip greeted cheerfully, the apparent normal state for this particular clan of gargoyles, and thrust a stony-clawed hand out to shake. "Don't let her fool ya, we're the _real_ defenders of the night."

Sarril reached out to shake his hand. "I'll not argue," he said with a grin.

Chip shook with careful energy."Since _she's_ obviously too good to provide proper introductions, tsk, kids these days! Anyway, who might you be?"

Jasmine smirked and folded her arms, letting the garg play his usual routine for now at least.

"Sarril Farmer," he replied. "Dragonblood."

"Well pleased ta meetcha, Sarril," Chip replied. "Better get back to work before the boss finds out I'm slacking, so you kids have fun."

Jasmine interrupted before he could do more than spread his wings, "Wait! Who's hanging around right now?"

Chip stopped and thought about it. "Uhhh, Stonewall, Jackson, Pearl, Ruby, Amy... couple more probably. Oh, and Pearl and Ruby are still annoyed at you for ditching them, you know."

Jasmine made a face, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shoo."

Chip grinned and launched back into the air to return to his post.

Sarril smirked faintly. "Interesting chappy," he commented.

"Stonehenge's branch of the Gargoyle clan always have been," Jasmine said. "They're a bit brighter than some of the others, and Stoney's rotten sense of humor seems to be passed on along with the ugly mugs."

"So I see," he commented, continuing on in the direction she had been going before they were interrupted.

Jasmine caught up and grinned. "Of course we _had_ to have 'em play the part after suckering Dolen into building here. The look on his face was _priceless_ when he realized just how we'd kept him from putting the pieces together."

"I can imagine," Sarril said, looking around the place thoughtfully and wondering obliquely just how they'd managed it.

Unlike the typical dark ages castles this had been based on and resembled for the most part, the interior was quite comfortable and combined the elements of the old and new with a distinctive artistic touch. It was doubtful that any of the artwork or medieval accouterments were reproductions, indeed all of it being samples that were drawn from havens across the globe and accumulated over the centuries.

"Hmm," Jasmine muttered as they passed into a sitting room with a couch and a number of comfortable chairs circling around a fireplace that was lit and burning cheerfully. "Why do I get the feeling that we're definitely not unexpected?"

"I would be surprised if we were," Sarril commented wryly, giving an appraising look around the place thoughtfully.

"Would you think the arrival of my own childe would go unnoticed?" asked a cultured voice from the far side of the chamber.

The man who entered was of roughly average height and a medium build beneath an elegantly tailored suit. He rested the silver wolf-headed walking stick against the arm of the couch and walked forward, a quietly assessing gaze holding on Sarril momentarily, then shifting with a hint of warmth to Jasmine.

"And who have you brought with you, childe? Tis rare indeed for a guest to arrive within my domain."

Jasmine smiled and walked up to hug the man. "Hi to you too, Dolen." she murmured, then drew back and looked over her shoulder. "And this is Sarril Farmer, a... visitor from out of town."

Sarril inclined his head toward him politely and said, "A pleasure to meet you."

"And you, sir, are welcome here," Dolen replied politely, then cast a glance of veiled amusement at Jasmine. "Though it would seem that invitation had already been extended and accepted, bereft of even a word," he chided lightly.

She ducked her head in stubborn embarrassment. "Sorry, sort of."

He laughed softly in return. "Sure thou'rt not, childe, any more than ever before... and no more than I might deny you. Come, sit!" he said, gesturing around. "Tell me what has brought you here, and from whence you came. Despite what she may have warned." His eyes glittered mirthfully as he looked at Sarril. "I am not quite so blind to that which passes beyond normal times."

Sarril chuckled softly and went to take a seat. "Well, I imagine that would be something of a long story..."

"Indulge me," Dolen replied as he found a place to perch as well, and lifted a brow as Jasmine went to. "Though I should think there are other matters for you to look to, dear girl. Some small details that you perhaps left... unfinished?"

"Yessir," Jasmine replied humbly, and walked out, stopping at the entry for a quick look back before vanishing into the castle's depths.

"A good childe," Dolen said quietly, "but perhaps a bit impetuous at times, such are the ways of youth." He returned his attention to Sarril and smiled. "And as she was wearing the armor she seemed so loath to do in years past, I am quite certain your tale will prove of great interest."

"Mmm, yes, I imagine so," Sarril said. "I'm from a world called Lezaria, in a place called the Elkandu Universe. My father was Telkarnith Chelseer, a war-hero descended from the royal family of Kedresida. My mother and sire was Donna Farmer..." He was just going to assume that the man didn't think him crazy over this all.

Oh the references were strange enough, in truth, but Dolen could readily distinguish the fine patterns in the other man's aura that revealed that he was not only quite sane but being honest in his tale. He listened with polite interest, attentive expression inviting Sarril to continue.

"Now, I had known that my grandsire was not originally from Lezaria, and my mother had gone to look for him around seven hundred years ago and never returned. So, by chance, a month or two ago, I ran into another vampire in a bar whom I did not recognize, who introduced himself as Falk and told me about this world, so I came here to look around..."

"Ah yes, I know that one," Dolen replied, having used the dangerous young Kindred as a tool now and again in such a way as to remain... clean of anything which might turn the weapon his way. "Interesting news that he appears to have expanded his sphere further than before," he continued, tucking the tidbit of information away for later use. "And this thread of information brought you here, then?"

Sarril nodded. "Indeed. I'd met Jasmine over near the Prince's office, though I must say that they had thought me a Malkavian at first..." He snickered softly. "I must say she was rather surprised when she first saw the Nexus of Torn Elkandu firsthand."

"To go from believing one to be of Malkav's brood to seeing the threads of proof," Dolen replied dryly, "Is surely enough to surprise any, least of all one who has seen scant more than two hundred years."

"Now, we'd been out searching for the spawn of one Vadrak, who had apparently sired a large number of childer recently and sent them to scout around all over the place. Several of which attacked us on sight..."

"Sounds a delightful fellow," Dolen mused, turning the name thoughtfully in his mind and wondering why it sounded a familiar ring from somewhere in memory. Perhaps something his own Sire had mentioned? Hmm.

"Yeah..." Sarril said. "He was, as I later discovered, originally from this world, and of the clan Lasombra. He had some rather nasty habits, like embracing his enemies' wives just to piss them off... But thankfully he's dead now and not coming back"

That would be why, Dolen mused, his own affiliations had passed beyond the bounds of Camarilla and Sabbat for many years... he predated both artificial constructs as surely as his Sire did. Perhaps he had encountered the man in passing, or Marie had mentioned speaking with one of the old clan. It wasn't truly important. Part of that was troubling, however, and he studied the other man pensively.

"You'll forgive me," he said, "if I wonder upon the nature of your standing in that clan, and your relations to it. You must understand that they are persona non gratis here and have been hunted largely to extinction, I would be remiss were I not to mention that or express concern at what effect that might reflect upon my childe by association."

"Yes, I'm aware of that," Sarril said. "Vadrak is my sire's sire, slain by my own hand, and I reject any further association with him or his clan. I do not possess the flaws of that clan, and I am the founder of the bloodline Dragonblood."

Dolen leaned comfortably back, tenting his fingers as he considered the potential implications and political realities, measuring them against the sharply delineated colors of honesty and certainty, then nodded in acceptance.

"I shall then leave that without further comment," Dolen said. "It is not unheard of for a faction of a former clan to splinter off, perhaps become Caitiff for a time, and then form another line entirely. So long as you do not entertain the same tendencies of those who have passed, there should be little difficulty, if any." He smiled faintly. "Yet I have interrupted your tale. Please, continue."

Sarril nodded. "I had learned where he was hiding out from a mortal nephew of mine, so to speak, the descendent of my half-brother many generations removed. It was a well-defended castle on a remote world, and after eliminating several of his childer who had attempted to kill me, I called in Falk to assist with the matter..."

"Not an ill choice of weaponry," Dolen replied dryly. "The matter was resolved satisfactorily, I presume, for no reason beyond your presence here hale and whole. Not an inconsiderable feat."

Sarril nodded. "Yes, most satisfactorily..." he replied with a smirk.

Dolen replied with a knowing smile, the threads of black not something which he might mistake for anything else, speaking of... "That does bring a certain point to mind." He cleared his throat lightly. "There are certain changes which that entailed within you, and as you have the potential to disguise their nature I would heartily recommend you do so to avoid... awkward questions."

Sarril raised an eyebrow to him. "What do you mean?" Yes, apparently, he hadn't been paying full attention somewhere along the line, and it took a moment to click. "Oh, right."

"Such uses of glamourie shall not fool ones such as I," Dolen replied calmly. "Yet will they serve to turn the eye of the Kindred as a whole away from your deeds. In truth, I doubt that any harm might come of it after explanation, yet not all are so willing to listen to a tale nor do all _care_ where their own impulses might be slaked."

Sarril was certainly no stranger to manipulating the appearance of his aura, it being a common thing taught among the stronger Illusionists of the Elkandu. He put forth a weave of Illusion around himself lightly and tied it in place. At least he wasn't so silly about it as Sedder tended to be, who liked to make his aura afloat with smilies.

Dolen nodded in satisfaction as the changes were set into place. "Excellently done, and something to be mindful for the passage of a year, for it is that span of time that the most obvious signs remain. Only the most astute may detect the traces which shall hold ever after, yet their numbers are far fewer and tend toward more reasonable natures." He smiled thinly. "The passing of old enemies is a thing we all understand."

Sarril gave a nod. "That is one which I will sleep easier knowing is not out wanting to kill me," he murmured. "And I'm sure my childer would agree, for all the time they spent driving his brood off our planet."

"And over time shall that task grow simpler without the hand of the eldest to guide them," Dolen agreed readily. "With your enemy vanquished, what plan now lays before you? I am certain this world might welcome another of noble and purposeful blood, yet that is not perhaps your own inclination."

"I have intention of spending some time here, in between visits to my home world," Sarril said. "Lately though I've been showing Jasmine around the various sights of the Elkandu Universe."

"Ah, that would explain your appearance here," Dolen replied, smiling slightly. "Doubtless she sought to repay some small part of the gift you have given in expanding her own horizons. This is perhaps the singularly most unique aspect of this world which she has experienced." He turned his eyes upward. "Save perhaps the caerns she and her brother have grown fond of."

"Indeed," Sarril said. "It's quite the place."

"Perhaps not so historic as others of its kind upon distant shores," Dolen replied. "Yet it is home, and was quite safe even during the most hazardous years following the Awakening. Even the Sabbat were given pause at destroying a building of such height among their own territory, least of all as I was known and accepted by their elders."

Sarril chuckled softly and said, "A bit amusing, though, how Jasmine kept commenting on seeing so many castles around the Elkandu worlds..."

"Ahhh, but you must remember," Dolen replied with cordial joviality, "They are not quite so common here. This is one of perhaps three upon this entire continent, and the others were brought stone by stone from varied European nations."

Sarril nodded. "Okay, so the only castle on the world of Sasherey makes for a very unique tourist attraction... not the least of which because it's made from solid ice..."

"Quite the unique attraction," Dolen agreed, "As is anything which is beyond familiar domains, even so simple as encountering others of Caine's blood as I am sure you yourself have had occasion to observe."

Sarril nodded in agreement. "Until I met Falk, I had not previously encountered such who were not my own or trying to kill me." He smirked faintly.

Dolen coughed lightly. "Yes well, I would not dismiss that latter option so quickly where that one is concerned. Cainites are far from those which he considers worthy of continued existence, though tolerance appears the preferred choice for most nights."

His eyes turned to look past Sarril, then rolled upward as a faint scraping and ticking of claws could be heard, followed a moment later by a feathered head appearing in the entryway. The griffin was more the colors of the bald eagle, ranging from brown to white and some gold, and it strutted in to peer curiously at the stranger before cawing in query.

Sarril glanced over to the creature curiously, a faint grin spreading across his face. Personally, having been impressed by Falk's skills, he wasn't about to get so paranoid as to think he was out to get him. And yet held to the belief that if for some reason he were, Sarril had probably done something to deserve it anyway. He was not so afraid of death.

"No, he's no threat to you or your hatchlings to be," Dolen addressed the creature with faint exasperation. "Nor is he something of which to sate your hunger. Surely by now you have detected the signs of your repast being prepared, and know the path by which to find it. Shoo."

The griffin listened intently and indulgently to the silly being that she allowed to inhabit her nesting grounds, then turned her attention back to the newcomer and approached to get a better look at him with a low croon.

"Hello there," Sarril said in a friendly manner, smiling at the creature. "You're a lovely one, aren't you?"

"Don't encourage it," Dolen warned, sparing the creature a disapproving look. "Else be wary that one day soon shall you find one of its spawn roosting in your own domain and never to leave again, not in a hundred years or more, and any hopeful absences crushed upon its return come the spring."

The griffin's beak opened and it was easy enough to tell that it was laughing at the silly vampire's tirade, knowing all too well that the bluster was only that and its chicks would soon enough be pandering choice tidbits from his own sly hand. She preened at the stranger's kind words, obviously believing him a person of impeccable taste and sense, and crooned softly in approval.

Dolen snorted lightly, and the griffin gave him another indulgent look before picking its way daintily across the rug to the archway on the way to the kitchen.

Sarril chuckled softly. "I'll take it that's what Jasmine had mentioned when we went riding on a black griffin over on Hasaris."

"Mm, I would presume so," Dolen replied. "The creature clearly focused on this as the tallest structure in what it considers its territory, and made a nest in one of the towers the year following the Awakening. Its presence would have likely gone unnoticed had I not grown suspicious of the comings and goings of the children and Sophie. They had found it and its nest, and begun sneaking food to the wretched creature. Any attempts at dissuading its return have proven futile, not that the others have ever considered the matter seriously."

Sarril was fairly amused at the idea of something like a griffin being a mere pest, and chuckled softly. "No, there's not many griffins on Lezaria itself, though if we ever got any unexpected guests at Tinemocun, they were generally of a more scaly variety."

"I don't suppose you'd care to add another of the beasts to the population?" Dolen asked hopefully. "I'm sure the creature would be far happier in open spaces and away from the dangers of a domain within city limits."

Sarril chuckled softly. "Most of the griffins in the Elkandu worlds tend to prefer the _really_ wide open spaces of Hasaris, what with all its islands floating in the sky, although there's a fair number of them in the wilderness and cliffs of Wilderplane as well."

"Hmmm," Dolen considered the idea with growing enthusiasm.

He flinched minutely as a voice chided with gentle, fond amusement from the direction the griffin had gone, "Dolen..." He looked over as Jasmine returned alongside another woman, this one dressed quite informally in jeans and a workshirt, her blonde hair reaching to her shoulders.

"One could hope..." He replied, the quirked smile recognizing the futility of it.

"Sophie, meet Sarril, Sarril, Sophie," Jasmine offered by way of introduction as she crossed to sit in a chair nearby Sarril.

Sophie offered a friendly nod, "Pleased to meet you." She walked with a mincing gait to slide to the couch beside Dolen and curl up at his side.

Sarril chuckled softly and nodded to her politely. "The pleasure is mine, I'm sure," he said with a faint smirk.

Sophie poked Dolen in the side, "You are _not_ pawning poor Cerisce off, she's perfectly happy here and you know it."

Dolen replied with a long-suffering sigh, but seemed more relaxed now as he replied with a quiet smile, "As you wish, milady."

Jasmine rolled her eyes and smirked to Sarril, "See why Nicholas and me had to get out of here? Little nudge from his fuzzy conscience (his words, not mine!) and he folds like a house of cards. Sheesh." She chuckled. "Well at least he might give up on the idea of getting rid of the griffin one of these days, maybe even let me import one for a matched set." She grinned brightly at Dolen.

Sarril laughed lightly. "Well, they're just kind of overgrown cats.. with wings.. after all. Whoever could tell a cat what to do if they didn't want to once they set their mind on something?"

"See?" Jasmine and Sophie said at once, then laughed at Dolen's sour expression.

Dolen grudgingly muttered, "Wonderful, already we've enough animals running around to create a zoo, and that shall remain two for one both cat and brain of a bird."

Jasmine smirked, knowing the irascible turn of conversation of old, and offered confidentially to Sarril, "He's a softy, really, you should see the 'secret' ways he spoils them."

Sarril chuckled softly. "Yes, quite the zoo from what I've seen thus far, I'd say." He grinned a bit.

"Oh yes, Jasmine tells me you already met Dee and Dum, as well as Dion," Sophie said, and grinned a little from her nestled spot at Dolen's shoulder. "Watch out for Dion. I adore him, but he is an incorrigible pickpocket, nothing shiny is safe from him, even if it's nailed down."

Jasmine smirked, "Little snot tried to swipe my headband."

"Thankfully my pockets are theft-proof," Sarril replied jovially.

"Does that apply to the pockets themselves?" Jasmine grinned, "I remember one not-so-welcome guest who ended up leaving in little more than boxers and unlaced shoes in a huff. Dion didn't take a shine to him, apparently, or just picked up on the general air of 'Go Away!' in the air." She looked at him a moment, thinking about that image in another context, and swallowed a sly grin.

Sarril cleared his throat. "I'm sure," he said with a smirk.

"A pity you didn't send notice ahead," Dolen remarked with a pointed look at Jasmine. "I'm certain Nicholas would have enjoyed seeing you again as well, it _has_ been a few years since last you visited. Unfortunately you arrived upon a night that he had set aside for a visit to the Sept of the Green over on Manhattan Island."

"Drat," Jasmine replied. "I was hoping to catch him here too, but..." She shrugged. "I'll make sure to call ahead next time, promise. That or drag poor Sarril here across the way to say hello at one of their get-togethers." She grinned over at him.

Sarril said with a faint smirk, "I'm sure I wouldn't mind overly much..."

"They're actually quite interesting," Sophie said, half-smiling as she didn't need to see the expression on Dolen's face to feel his quietly long-held disagreement... the Kindred and Garou had been at odds for too long for him to ever be truly comfortable with them. "And they are rather fond of Nicholas, 'He Who Cooks', and all." She laughed lightly.

Sarril snickered softly at that image. He, at least, had never experienced much animosity with shapeshifters -- possibly because there weren't overly many of them on Lezaria, and the dragons, well, he was sort of a blood relation to. He did, of course, recall Thorn's time in Tinemocun, but that was some decades past.

"The only one in the family that never has to worry about the shapeshifters _ever_ attacking them, or being alone when they're out and about," Jasmine smirked. "All it takes is a single lupus to sniff him out and he's got an instant honor guard. It's just silly, but there's something to be said about the power of food and a full stomach, I guess." 

"That's amusing," Sarril commented, trying to imagine that picture and snickering some more.

"So," Jasmine smirked, looking to Dolen. "Have you grilled The Stranger extensively enough to let me drag him off for the tour? Leave you two to... whatever you do at night."

Back when she and Nicholas had lived here she could anticipate a basic schedule, but that had been decades before... and there were some things she just didn't want to think about!

Dolen smiled faintly. "Go along, childe, you have my faith in your judgment." For the most part, he didn't add, but had no objections to their current guest beyond any Kindred's caution.

Jasmine hopped up from her seat and looked at Sarril, asked brightly, "Shall we?"

Sarril smiled and stood, and said, "Let's." He inclined his head politely to Dolen and said, "It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"And yours," Dolen replied politely, as Sophie added a firm nod to echo the statement even though she'd spent less time talking with him. It would probably come as no surprise that a good part of what he'd told Dolen had been relayed to her as well via Jasmine while they chatted.

Jasmine headed out the far door and deeper into the castle. Sarril headed out along with her, giving a fair look to appreciating his surroundings as they go.

They ran across the kitchen soon enough, a vast expanse of gleaming, spotless steel with a variety of cooking utensils neatly arrayed on racks and most likely stored in the plentiful cupboards as well. Right now it was a scene of carnage as Dee and Dum, plus their companion sheepdog Bongo, bloodhound Jar Jar, Dion, and the griffin were attending their respective meals with various degrees of energy.

"Behold the mobile menagerie," Jasmine remarked, grinning a bit. "It's a lot busier when Nicholas's around, since the human ghouls are likely to be wanting to get fed too. When he's not, they tend to make do with local restaurants."

Sarril chuckled softly and looked over the small zoo appraisingly. "Yes, quite the assortment here..."

Jasmine tugged him on, continuing through the maze of passages with familiar ease. "I'm surprised that there haven't been any new additions, but I suppose Sophie doesn't want to weird him out _too_ much." She chuckled as they come to an elevator and she pressed the button to go down, rocking lightly on her feet.

"So, I've another silly question for you here, I think."

Jasmine looked over at him, "What's that?" she asked, then walked in as the elevator arrived and the doors open. She waited for him to climb aboard, then pressed a button for a couple floors down.

"I'm taking it that a slightly different definition of 'ghoul' is used in this world than back at home."

"Oh, that." Jasmine nodded. "Yeah, probably. Ghouls are given a bit of Kindred vitae on a regular basis, it makes them stronger and tougher and makes them effectively immortal as long as they keep getting fed. They can also learn Kindred disciplines if they're taught, even the animal ones. Animal ghouls." She grinned. "Did you notice the dogs and Dion were a bit bigger than usual? Animal ghouls tend to get a bit bigger and smarter over time."

"Yeah, definitely a different definition there," Sarril commented. "I'd never thought of that. No, what the Elkandu call 'ghouls' are fairly mindless undead who feed on flesh. They're somewhat stronger than skeletons and zombies."

"Well," Jasmine said, walking out as the doors opened onto a hall that lights as they entered. "Animal ghouls _can_ get a real taste for human flesh if they're not kept under control, and some Kindred deliberately encourage it."

"That's a pleasant thought," Sarril said sarcastically as he followed her out into the hall.

Jasmine shrugged. "Some want them for defense, pretty standard really, and at least the Tzimisce aren't around anymore to create their war-beasts. Now _those_ were nasty!"

It was pretty warm and humid in the hall, and had a chemical odor underlying it.

"I can imagine," Sarril said, vaguely thinking back on the mess that came of the War of Transformation, and glad that he wasn't around for that time. The Planar Wars was bad enough!

"Heh, if you imagine something as big as a fuzzy," Jasmine replied. "Then make each of them a twisted reflection of its creator's imagination, and no two of them alike... that's about right. Got really ugly sometimes."

She led the way a little further, then opened a door that revealed the source of the atmosphere as a swimming pool, waves of light from it dancing across the ceiling.

"I've seen Elkandu Changers at work, remember," Sarril pointed out. He looked inside thoughtfully with a faint grin.

"I haven't, so I wouldn't know," Jasmine replied with a grin of her own, reaching up to the clasp of her cloak and letting it drift to the floor. "You'll have to show me sometime, though I'll remember not to mention _that_ name."

"Yes," Sarril said. "I'll introduce you to Amanda. She's the sane one, after all." He smirked. "Can still do the same things, of course, she just generally spends more of her time _fixing_ the idiotic things done by the others."

Jasmine chuckled and crossed to sit in a poolside chair to begin removing her armor with an inward sigh of pleasure. "I take it that she's not on the 'Do Not Mention' list? That still seems odd to me, other than the old folklore about not speaking an evil name lest you summon it there's no real reason to avoid it here."

"Nah, Amanda's okay," Sarril said, taking a seat nearby. "Aside from a strange proclivity towards giving people pointy ears when she can get away with it. But Harmony, however, was responsible for almost destroying the universe once, with her damned Wheel of Chaos..."

"Now there's an idea." Jasmine smirked as she stripped down the last and walked to the pool edge to test the waters with a dip of one foot before diving in. Wringing her hair back a moment later, she grinned. "I don't think Dolen would understand getting my ears sharpened, though." She chuckled and lazily treaded water. "Mm, sounds like this Harmony is pretty badly named, from all you've said."

"Oh, yes. She was about the most un-harmonious person I've ever had the misfortune of meeting," Sarril said with a smirk as he watched her. "She avoided being soulfired for causing the Planar Wars solely by claiming that Rhuan had mind-controlled her to do it... the thirteen soul mages involved, they were all soulfired."

"Was it true?" Jasmine asked, then dove sharply to describe a graceful arc for ten feet or so before surfacing to continue. "Or just a ploy to keep her hide intact? Seems somewhat odd, considering the opinion as 'trouble' you've described her as otherwise."

"Oh, it was all a ruse of course," Sarril said. "And she was good enough with mental contortions that any but the best telepaths would believe her, too. But she later admitted it, long after anyone cared to punish her for it. Ishane, though, he never really believed her for a minute. He put strong mental blocks in her mind to prevent her from changing anyone without their explicit permission."

"I'll keep that in mind if I run across her." Jasmine smirked and drifted back to the poolside to rest her arms on the edge and let herself relax and drift. "Sounds like you've had a lot more excitement in your corner of reality than here, at least in terms of scale."

"Yeah, it doesn't sound like anyone ever actually managed to destroy the universe here," Sarril said with a smirk. "The Wheel was a nasty, nasty thing. It shattered the barrier between the physical and ethereal planes, caused magic to work in weird ways, mutations, madness..."

"Hummm, no, no universe collapsing and reforming." Jasmine smirked. "Not that _I_ know of anyway, but would I even remember? That's a question to lose a day's sleep over!" She chuckled and hauled herself nimbly up to sit on the edge, reaching to retrieve her watch and take a look at it. "Speaking of, I should drag you off someplace safe for the day, soon, or head back to the Nexus. Dawn's not too far away."

"Whichever you prefer, I'm flexible," he said, grinning.

"I know, I know," Jasmine murmured throatily, then reached to collect the removed armor and clothing. "The haven here is safer than anywhere else I can think of, the Glass Walkers did some work on their side to make sure of it too. And I'd be glad of the rest and company..." She smiled a little shyly as she stood.

Sarril smiled gently and said, "Certainly. Let's." He stood and stretched a bit.

Jasmine sighed softly and led the way to the far wall of the pool room and smiled crookedly as she revealed a passage that led to a spiral stairwell. Numerous turns downward they emerged into a tasteful chamber that had served her time and again over the years, and would serve one night more at the least with another present. Dawn could find them safely ensconced and secure, and bring a peaceful day's rest.


	20. Wishingsdale

Nothing disturbed them through the day, it would have been a great surprise had anything been given the opportunity to do so, and Jasmine woke with the setting sun. Jasmine took a sleepy look around in the gloom of the haven, the familiar setting providing a comfortably secure feeling as she stretched languidly and yawns. Where... she grinned, oh right.

Sarril likewise stirred, climbing to his feet and stretching languidly. It was still good to sleep from time to time, even if many Elkandu tended to forget to.

Jasmine rolled over on her stomach to watch him for a moment, then sighed a bit wistfully and crawled out to get back into clothing and armor. "So any thoughts for the night?" she asked, then added, "After breakfast, of course."

"Mmm," Sarril said. "I was thinking if you didn't have anything else in mind here at the moment that I might show you a bit more of my homeworld..."

"Nah, some things never change," Jasmine replied. "Anything of interest will still be here if we decide to take a look. It's when _events_ get interesting that you have to watch out." She grinned, slipping the diadem back in place and adjusting its set at her brow.

Sarril smiled at her and leaned over to give her a small kiss. "You look stunning as usual. Shall we?"

"Watch it," Jasmine groused. "You'll make me rethink my resolve." She chuckled, drawing the cloak back around, and smiled. "Sure thing, we can do a commando raid in the kitchen on the way back topside. I doubt the Recall thing would work here."

Sarril chuckled softly and gestured toward the door. "Lead the way, then."

Jasmine did so, disabling the security system and then leading into the hallway that connects to the spiral stairs at either end. The castle was honeycombed with passages that led to this network of halls, giving access to it from nearly anywhere within. She whistled lightly as she hopped up the stairs, stopped a couple levels up in thought, then took a turn down one of the narrow branches.

A hidden panel later found them emerging from behind a tapestry just beyond the kitchen. "This place can be so much fun for hide and seek." She grinned.

Sarril chuckled. "I'd imagine so. Unless you were playing with Azale." He smirked.

"Who'd want to play with Azale? I bet even Dion would give up after a while," Jasmine snickered and led off into the kitchen, which was currently unoccupied as standard 'feeding times' hadn't quite fallen upon them. The residents often, hrm, slept in a bit. She went over to the wide refrigerator and rummaged around, emerging with a bowl. "Ah-hah! Thought there'd be something interesting around."

"Hmm?" Sarril said, peering over to see what she was doing.

"The ghouls aren't the only ones who got spoiled having Nicholas around." Jasmine grinned, uncovering the bowl and setting it on a counter, then went to add blood to the mix. "Hospital food's so boring, but it can be livened up by a good cook." 

The empty bags got tossed away, and she took the bowl over and popped it in the microwave to warm. Sarril continued to think that was really weird, but didn't comment, chuckling softly.

Jasmine hummed softly as the micro did its work, then took the bowl out and divvied it out between two smaller bowls. She carried them over to a dining counter and set one down for him, hopping up on a stool to deal with her own. It was a rich beef broth of some sort, a subtle layering of spices adding a bite to it and accenting rather than overriding the flavor of the blood in it.

Sarril was willing to try it out at least, eating quietly. "Hmm, interesting," he commented.

"He always kept the menu interesting when we were ghouls," Jasmine said. "I suppose it provided a challenge to his art to keep that kind of variety when dealing with a much more limited range of possibilities."

She smiled fondly in memory and drank more of the broth, going for the practical approach of using the bowl as a cup and draining it quickly.

"So I see," Sarril said, stretching a bit as he finished up. "Not bad."

"There's better, but that's only special occasions."

Jasmine grinned, then collected the bowls to drop off in the sink, and headed off to lead back out of the castle itself. Sarril trailed along out after her, glancing around them as they went casually.

"Don't be surprised if we don't run across anyone on the way out." Jasmine smirked. "With only Dolen and Sophie around these days, everyone's probably gotten used to sleeping in."

There was nary a sign of life as they made their way out, true to her prediction, and they returned to the jutting landing pad without interruption. She walked to the edge of it to looked out into the clear and bright night, the sea of clouds of the previous night gone.

New York City could be seen in the near distance, across an expanse of dark and shifting water, a brilliant kaleidoscope of light that dimmed the light from the skies. She looked out over the setting for a minute, then turned her back to it and smiled. "Ready to go?"

Sarril looked out at the view for a few and said, "Whenever you like."

"Promises, promises," Jasmine quipped, grinning, then Recalled.

Sarril followed momentarily. The Nexus was relatively quiet today, the sounds of Pyroluminescence playing some power ballad over to the east in Wind's Square barely audible. Sarril went over to take a look at the time zone chart on the nearby wall thoughtfully.

"So how's it look?" Jasmine asked, walking over to take a look at the chart as well and sorting through to find Lezaria.

"It's midnight in Rascalanse," he said, pointing to a section of the chart. "Been quite some while since I've been there... I wonder who lives in the Wishingsdale Manor these days?"

Jasmine looked at him expectantly, waiting for an explanation of the references.

Sarril chuckled. "Rascalanse is a little out-of-the-way country tucked in between mountain ranges on the central continent of Lezaria," he explained. "The Chelseers had built a manor in the village of Wishingsdale around, oh, eight hundred years ago or so.

"Ah-hah," Jasmine replied, nodding. "A bit of a family historical site, then. Sounds good to me, poor backwater world girl that I am." She put on her best wayward, innocent expression.

Sarril chuckled and stepped into the Nexus to teleport them there. The Chelseer manor was easily the largest building in the village, which appeared to be focused around raising sheep. Outside it, there were stables and pastures in which one chestnut stallion was taking a late-night snack. He looked over to the two vampires thoughtfully in between chews.

Jasmine followed cheerfully, glad to be out and about again, and took a good look around as they arrived. "Sheep herding," she hmmed. "Why does there always seem to be some history of that in any long family line? Some just have more black sheep than others."

"The Chelseers never raised sheep. Just horses," he said, heading over to give the stallion a pat. "Well, hello there, boy."

Jasmine strolled casually over, giving the animal a thorough assessing glance. "One of the Chelseer lines? Good stock."

"Looks like one of Zendellor's descendants, at a guess," Sarril commented. "Zendellor was the fastest horse who ever lived on this continent."

Certainly had more intelligence than some of the beasts Jasmine had encountered, showing a calm and placid nature with a quiet awareness and curiosity. Not bad at all. Giving the stallion another pat, he headed off toward the large manor house. It was large and comfortable-looking, but didn't appear to be excessively opulent.

"Enjoy your dinner," she grinned at the horse, then trotted to catch up with Sarril. "Who was the last one to hold the manor? Has it changed hands as many times as they usually do?"

"I'm not sure," Sarril says. "I haven't been here since at _least_ the Planar Wars, but up until then it was always kept in the family. Not that that was ever really difficult considering _everyone_ seems to be related to the Chelseers... the Kedaires, the Caldenes, the Takhandomars..."

"That's one way to keep the revolution from breaking out," Jasmine chuckled. "Just have enough of the populace as family that they're not going to do anything more than beat the snot out of the person they actually have a grudge with."

Sarril chuckled. "Yeeah... And ever since the Ten Generation Day, now they're related to everyone from _other_ planets too..."

He went up to the front door. It was a fairly large, sturdy wooden door, simple and functional, the only adornment being the dragon-shaped brass knocker.

"No wonder you don't see people fighting each other all over the place out here," Jasmine smirked, then cocked her head in question as they reached the door. "What's the 'Ten Generation Day'? Some sort of holiday?"

"It was around five hundred years ago," he said. "They feared the rise of the Drakandu and decided to increase their numbers, so they took advantage of the time-delaying runes on the Nexus to send people off to other worlds in such a manner that they could spend years there and only an hour would pass when they returned... So they went to other worlds, and located the most powerful living, genetically compatible being that they could find, and, well, mated with them. Then they raised that child, returned, and then send the kid through to do the same thing."

Jasmine blinked. "That's a pretty mercenary way of going about it, though I guess that it might be kinda important if the population was dropping _that_ quickly. Still seems pretty extreme."

"They were desperate, I imagine," he said. "Hence why it's called the Ten Generation Day. They literally created ten generations of Chelseers that way. Streyka, by the way, was one the last born on that day."

"Kinda defeats the purpose with embracing her, doesn't it?" Jasmine smirked. "Certainly won't be continuing the family line _that_ way."

Sarril shrugged, and went to knock on the door. "Oddly, most of the tenth generation from that day never wanted to have kids. They were fairly sick of it by that point, I think. One of them, though, ended up as the progenitor of the Shadowhand line..."

"Can't say I blame them," Jasmine replied, clasping her hands behind her back and waiting patiently for the door to be answered, and smirked. "My first reaction wouldn't be to go out and continue the line right after that sort of thing." She made a note to ask about the Shadowhand later, if he didn't explain on his own.

The door was shortly opened by a silver-haired blue-eyed elf female. "Hello?" she said.

Sarril said, "Ah, good evening Mithring. It's me, Sarril."

Mithring thought for a moment and said, "Ah! Come on in."

"Hello," Jasmine said with a polite smile, and would trail along after Sarril, leaving him to serve as interpreter, guide, target... she smothered a grin.

Sarril went inside and Mithring closed the door behind them. "Jasmine, this is Mithring Chelseer. Mithring, Jasmine."

"Pleased to meet you," Jasmine replied to the introduction with a nod.

"So what brings you out here?" Mithring said. "Erm. Forgive me if I don't offer you anything to eat, I think I'm afraid you might take it the wrong way." Sarril sniggered.

Jasmine laughed lightly. "Not a problem, we had a snack before heading over this way." Not even the type that ran in terror and begged for mercy, either!

"Well, in that case, please, make yourselves at home, or something," Mithring said. "Raven and Rianath are in the west wing if you wanna see them. Helga and Hilda are in the north."

"Thank you." Jasmine smiled, then glanced aside at Sarril. "Though I'm afraid I'll have to rely on him for any clue as to who any of them are. The perils of being new in town."

Sarril chuckled. "Here, I think this might help, if it's still where I remember it..."

He led her into a nearby room, in which one of the walls was dominated by a huge mural depicting a family tree. It didn't appear to be just painted on, either. There was clear evidence of magic involved, especially as it seemed to have automatically updated with the status of each person. Green for living, black for death, and apparently red for undead.

Jasmine followed after him and studied the design curiously. "Well that's handy," she remarked. "Sure a lot simpler and durable than some of the other attempts I've seen at family trees."

Sarril nodded in agreement, and pointed out himself on the tree, as well as the names mentioned to them, and Mithring. Raven and Rianath were apparently twin brother and sister, and Helga and Hilda twin sisters, and Mithring also had twin sisters named Calring and Morring. It looks like Morring was the one from which the Shadowhands branched off from. There were a lot of twins on the tree during the Ten Generation Day.

"Sheesh, the Chelseers _have_ been busy, haven't they?" Jasmine smirked, then shook her head. "That's a lot of family history in neat, plain lines, but it doesn't really say much about them. With that much there, though, I'd expect there's a library someplace just chock full of details."

"Oh, no doubt," Sarril said, grinning, and then pointing to some of the lines coming _into_ the tree. "See here? With the marriage of Keliole and Silver, the two most prominent families on Lezaria were joined, the Windriders and the Dragonblood..." He then pointed up to Khasadala Seer. "And Khasa here was supposed to be the child of the king of Kedresida and the dragon Thalajersal..."

Jasmine snickered. "Like I said, that's one way to keep the revolution at bay. Had to be a lot more pleasant than the alternative, considering the, ahh, productiveness of the line since."

He also proceeded to point out where others such as Keolah, Sedder, and Azale were on the tree. "Yeah, it's still hard to believe that Azale is supposed to be the Heir of the Children of the Dragon's Blood." He snorted in amusement.

"You're related to him..." Jasmine leaned over to rest her cheek to his shoulder and pat his back consolingly. "You poor, poor man." She grinned suddenly and drew back.

"Let's never mind the fact that he's died around, oh, six or seven times or so, maybe more," Sarril said with a smirk. "All because of that silly necklace of his. And now that he's a metamorph he'll be even harder to keep down."

"Give it time," Jasmine offered in amused reassurance. "Someone will take the trouble to figure out how to do it. Oh, he doesn't seem all _that_ bad really, but I could easily see him pissing someone off enough to get them seriously committed to the idea."

"He's got this onyx necklace that acts as a soultrap," Sarril said. "It effectively prevented him from being killed outright so long as he was wearing it -- it would turn him undead instead. And that happened. Multiple times. And this Soul Mage, Riven, knew a way to reverse it. Don't know how it'll work now that he's a metamorph though."

"Don't ask me." Jasmine smirked. "I understood the words, but the way they went together were kinda fuzzy on the comprehension side." There were a _lot_ of things she needed to pick up, apparently.

Sarril chuckled, and raised his hand to produce a small-scale hologram of Azale. "See, here's Azale. Actually, he was a drow at the time." The image turned into a drow boy, around eight years old. "And he's got this necklace." A slightly glowing onyx necklace appears around his neck. "And then he got killed..." An arrow hit the image in the foot, and he made faces and turns green and shambled around like a zombie. "Then Riven here fixes him." Another drow appeared in the image, zapped Azale with a little flash of light, and Azale returned to normal and bounced around.

Jasmine smirked and poked him in the arm. "Cute. I got _that_ much out of it, it's the details I'm pretty fuzzy on, going to have to find a primer on all the weird things you people get up to." She was delighted at the display and sense of humor, and sighed inwardly in both tickled exasperation and wistfulness.

Sarril giggled and made the illusions vanish, and took a seat on the edge of the table. "Well, the Elkandu have come up with a bunch of ways to manipulate souls. It's kind of creepy, really. Soultraps, soul bonds, soulfire... Lots of nasty stuff."

"That does sound like a pretty unhealthy fascination," Jasmine admitted and looked around briefly until she found a spot to perch herself on. "Is it a matter of control, or something else that motivates all the soul-related stuff?"

"I don't know..." Sarril said. "Soultraps will prevent a person from being killed, or hold a person's soul effectively prisoner in a stone or other object. Soulfire is the only known way to destroy a soul completely. And soul bonds, well, they're sort of the demonic equivalent of blood bonds. But they also allow the 'master' access to some portion of the slaves' powers."

"I haven't heard of anything like any of that," Jasmine replied, folding her arms. "Which is weird considering the groups back home that'd do just about anything... well, scratch out that 'just about', actually, they _would_ do anything to get an advantage over their enemies."

"Well. The disadvantage of a soul bond over something like a blood bond is that the person being bonded has to be completely willing or it won't work. Then again, they tend to get around that by using mind-control." He snorted softly. "The demons use that little one a lot. They get these huge chains called 'soul webs' going, with a strict hierarchy..."

Jasmine's eyes crossed as she imagined the potential of a web of control like that, then shuddered. "Uh yeah, so the soul bonds could at least cover a lot of the same ground as a blood bond, and with some additional 'benefits'. Whee." she donned an expression of disgust. "Overall, sounds like dealing with the soul doesn't lead to much other than trouble and grief."

"Demon lords aren't just dangerous for their own power, but the combined powers of everyone under them," Sarril said, making a face. "But there's plenty of legitimate uses for Soul Magic, too, of course. Healing and resurrection, for instance. There's a lot of skilled healers around..."

"Hummm, actually..." Jasmine replied thoughtfully. "Mentioning healers _does_ remind me of something that has a parallel or two, the Salubri. The more powerful ones can apparently heal someone's mind, even transfer their entire consciousness and possess their body to complete a total healing." She smirked. "Of course the Tremere labeled them 'soul-stealers' and used it as an excuse to hunt them." She muttered something ugly.

"Hmm, yes, possession and soul-transferring is another ability the Elkandu Soul Mages are capable of," Sarril said. "Though the really high-up powers you'd need someone like Suzcecoz to manage very well. She's the only one I know of capable of dissolving an entire soul web at once... Nasty bit of work that, she's extremely creative..."

"All told," Jasmine smirked, "I think I'll take pains to avoid Soul mages, just on general principle, seems the safest thing to do. And it's not like a Kindred has much use for someone who can heal or resurrect!" No, they healed themselves with the vitae they lived on.

Sarril nodded in agreement. "Yes, and some of them can be very dangerous to undead in general. Some know how to raise their own zombies and such, and are capable of controlling, destroying, or repelling undead... Like that little ratling back in Torn Elkandu wanted to try on us... Usually it only works very well on the weaker undead like zombies, skeletons, and ghosts, and not the more powerful ones like liches, vampires, and wraiths. But some are strong enough to even affect the stronger undead..."

"Yech," Jasmine replied. "Definitely something to avoid, freaky little rat. The idea of being turned like in the cheesy old horror movies just doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me." She hmmed and grinned slightly. "What other odd things might a harmless lil ol' vamp like myself want to keep an eye for out here?"

"Well, probably a good thing that the Blood Mages of any strength to be dangerous are extremely rare," he said. "Of course, even the more minor mages like pyromancers can be a pain in the ass sometimes. Oh, and there's sun mages too." He smirked. "Although those usually are the sort who can only do magic if they have sunlight available, and not capable of calling sunlight. Usually."

"Remind me again why I'm not staying safely hidden back home..." Jasmine muttered, the grinned again. "Oh yeah, right. Hmm, okay, so there's plenty of things out there besides the usual that I've had to keep an eye out for, delightful. Wouldn't want life to be boring, I suppose..." Fire, sunlight, souls... certainly an active and malicious bunch, weren't they?

"Of course, then there's the kinds any Elkandu would want to look out for, like Catalysts, Chronomancers, Psionicists, and Void Mages..." He shrugged.

Jasmine smirked, tapping one foot. "You're not exactly making this place sound any saner, you know."

Sarril laughed lightly. "What, don't you have Psionicists back on your world too? They're pretty ubiquitous after all..."

"Not really," Jasmine replied. "Though some of the various supernaturals have abilities that cover the classic 'psionic' powers like telepathy, telekinesis, and the like. The mages might have something closer to some of this other stuff but I don't really know much about them, they keep to themselves for the most part."

"Telekinesis isn't Mind Magic, that's Motion," Sarril said. "Mind covers stuff like mental control or influence, reading a person's emotional state or thoughts, delving into or altering a person's memories, and mental communication."

"Welll..." Jasmine thought about it, rocking in place as she did. "Auspex covers some of that, mostly having to do with the perception angle and communication. I can do basic telepathy through it, but it takes someone like Dolen to do the full route and be able to act like a switchboard for multi-mind links. That's a little beyond what my gen can handle. There's some other things involved in the discipline, like heightened awareness, auras, and getting impressions of past events from a setting or object. Domination, on the other hand." She made a face. "That covers the mental control you mentioned, and my grandsire refined it to a point where she could exert it through touch or voice. Nasty. They can also reprogram people with it, given some time."

"Seeing auras and heightened awareness and such falls under Seeking more, really," Sarril said. "But, not much worry that your world's definitions don't match up precisely to the Elkandu Talents. Even the Elkandu acknowledge that their Talent system is imperfect and have been slowly refining it over the centuries. For instance, Telekinesis and Teleportation are both grouped under 'Motion', but people generally realize they're two separate things these days."

"A couple things Falk said actually made me start thinking a bit about how the disciplines work," Jasmine admitted. "But without a frame of reference I'm not sure just what that might mean compared to what I've already learned." The colors for Mind, Dream, Seeking, Security, Motion, Change, and Time were displayed in her aura, in varying degrees of strength.

"Well, there's some pretty good information on Talents and how specific powers tend to fall under various categories in different systems in the School of Thought back in Torn Elkandu, if you wanna go take a look at it."

"Probably wouldn't hurt to take a look at sometime." Jasmine nodded, agreeing, then smirked. "Not that the idea of _POWER_ has ever been really high on my list of motivations. Staying alive, that's the important part, along with the company you keep."

Sarril chuckled softly. "Well, knowledge is power, they say. You know, Suzcecoz? She's not the strongest of the Elkandu by any means. She was born just a non-notable pyromancer, after all, in her first life... but she refused to be held back by that, and persevered, and now, she tends to get by on pure skill than anything else..."

Jasmine chuckled quietly. "Finesse is ever so much a better approach, without a doubt. I've seen plenty of instances where the right move at the right time meant a hell of a lot more than going head-on and bulldozing through. A lot less gets destroyed on the way, too. Torries tend to leave the blockhead route to the Bru."

"Should meet her, sometime, I think," Sarril said. "Can't say I've spent overmuch time around her myself, either, as she tends to keep to herself, but I've heard plenty about her exploits."

"You _have_ mentioned the name a few times," Jasmine replied dryly. "It almost sounds like some sort of obsessive complex to me," she teased. More like the woman had been instrumental in a number of very prominent events and fields, she remarked to herself.

He smirked. "Nahh," he said. "Although I do still think that I'll be terrified if she and the Glass Walkers ever get together."

Jasmine grimaced with comedic exaggeration. "Please, they're bad enough, don't encourage them! Or the reverse, I'm sure. Although..." she hmmed, "There'd probably be some _really_ interesting things to come out of it. Not sure what the World of Darkness would do with a sudden expansion of the way it looks at the supernatural, though."

"Most usually, in my experience, most people just ignore it all and get on with their lives, albeit with the occasional new products turning up on the shelves to take advantage of it."

Jasmine chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much what happened after the Awakening. Oh sure, people got all freaked out for a couple years, and there's still some new and unpleasant hate groups out there to bolster the ones that had _always_ been there, but for the most part they just... shrugged and went back to work the next day. Glass Walkers had to have been hiding a _lot_ of stuff from before then, though... Too many new things showed up way too soon afterwards, a _huge_ number of 'breakthroughs' in medicine, architecture, cars, the whole range. Makes one wonder what they're sitting on _now_."

"So, take your pick, I'm flexible. You wanna go see Suzy, visit the School of Thought, or just look around Lezaria a bit or something?"

Jasmine bit her lower lip, managing to look thoughtful for the most part rather than biting down on a grin. "Hmm, well," she replied after a moment. "I'd probably understand a lot more of what's going on, here and elsewhere, if I got a better idea of what's accepted as 'normal'." She smirked. "Look how long it took for me to get thrown off track here, I wouldn't want to think about meeting a cultural icon like this. So Torn Elkandu first, methinks," she decided and hopped down from her perch.

Sarril chuckled softly and said, "Sure thing."

He headed for the door and Recalled once outside. Jasmine followed him out, Recalling as she left, and smirking at herself for having the briefest tour in recorded history before being derailed.


	21. Talented Disciplines

"So where to?" she asked when they were back at the Nexus.

Sarril said, "This way. Thought's Road."

He headed off along the road northwest of the Nexus. The shops along this road tended to be of a slightly more intellectual nature and there were somewhat fewer taverns than in the rest of town. Jasmine trailed after, taking a look around as they went, taking advantage of the opportunity to extend the tour that had been interrupted before.

"Are all of the roads themed here?" she wondered aloud, deliberately squelching the former unhelpful train of thought.

"More or less," he said. "There's nine roads... Earth, Soul, Fire, Lightning, Wind, Water, Frost, Thought, and Infinity, the latter of which is the circular road that runs along the edge of town. Most shops and stuff are on the roads for the element most closely associated with them."

"That makes sense," Jasmine said. "Sure would be easier to keep track of things that way."

They came to a square with a fountain outside a large building with the words "School of Thought" in large letters over the entrance. A number of beings were casually coming in and out of the place. Sarril headed over toward the doors.

Jasmine kept pace with him, watching those who pass with idle curiosity, and casually remarked, "Seems like a busy enough place."

"Knowledge is power... but knowledge is free, to a point," Sarril said, heading along inside the corridors.

There were open doors with classrooms, teachers inside lecturing about various subjects, providing practical demonstrations or guided practice and training in different forms of magic.

"To a point?" Jasmine asked, pausing once to take a second look in one classroom, then continuing again to keep up.

"Well, nobody wants to teach anyone how to do soulfire, or the more potent and dangerous abilities, for the most part. But a novice mage can go an awful long way on just what is readily available."

He stopped at one room with a door labeled "Classification of Talents". There were only a handful of people in here at the moment, mainly studying over notes, but there was a large chart hanging from one wall.

"Ah, that makes sense." Jasmine nodded. "The same thing with some of the upper tier discipline abilities, most of those are just _rumors_ of what one clan or another can do with their specific affinities." Some of those for her own clan she knew of from Dolen, but she didn't assume even there that he'd told her all that _could_ be done with them. "What's this now?" she remarked curiously and went in to take a look.

The chart was massive, with little colored globs representing different Talents, often overlapping, with little boxes with descriptions of different abilities in them. The teacher here was apparently a four-foot-tall brown rabbit wearing a suit, who said, "Ah, hello, I can answer any questions you might have if you so desire, dudette."

Jasmine looked away from the chart and blinked once, then smiled. "Well hello, I don't know that I have anything _but_ questions at this point, really. This," she pointed to the chart, "is a lot more comprehensive than what I'm familiar with as being 'normal'."

She looked back to it pensively, remembering what Sarril had said, and wondering just how limited the disciplines were by the rigid Kindred mindset?

"Ah, no doubt," the rabbit said. "Many who enter unto these halls only grok various gnarly systems, and admittedly the Talent system is imperfect." With a wave of a paw, the chart shifted a bit and things move around. "This displays abilities merged as more commonly known as being related."

Jasmine looked at the rabbit strangely, amused by the bizarre combination of slang elements that covered a couple different decades back home, then shrugged it off mentally and looked at the chart again.

"Hummm, I'm not sure how much use either classification is going to be," she said absently, trying to figure out the sense of what she knew in this context, and realizing just how _weird_ some of the grouped abilities were. "Seeking, Mind, Dream... All in one discipline." She chewed her lip thoughtfully. "It just doesn't make any _sense_."

"I believe I am unfamiliar with these 'disciplines' of which you speak. I can switch it to several more 'traditional' systems if you might dig," he said, waving a paw and changing the chart again. This time it was grouped as an archaic quad-elemental system.

"No," Jasmine decided suddenly. "Let's go back to the original and rather than trying to put the Talents in a framework consistent with what I know, see what else fits into the categories that the abilities represent..." She grinned at the rabbit. "If that made sense at all."

The rabbit shifted it into something resembling a more updated version of the Talent system. "There are also other systems, for instance, a six-elemental system, one divided into Black Magic and White Magic, and gazillions more, but they are in effect just methodology of classifying what's already there."

"I don't think it's anything so easily remedied as that," Jasmine replied, looking the chart over again. "The Kindred Disciplines seem to take bits and pieces from different Talents without any real respect for common sense. Well, not counting Fort, Potence, and Cel. _No_ clue where those would fit in!"

"As I said, I am unfamiliar with these Disciplines of which you yak. However, if you give me some basis of framework I might jiggidy-jig and fix'er up for you a nice chart, eh?"

Jasmine grinned at the rabbit, but managed to keep away from a giggle. "Right," she said, "The clan disciplines are groups of abilities that a Kindred can use as they attain greater experience with them, and the stronger the blood the more potential those acquire, which..." her eyes went distant, "The way that the upper levels are so fluid _would_ seem to fit better in with the various Talents." She broke off, realizing she'd been rambling if not outright ranting, and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, this is just very... new? Not really, but looking at it this way is. Take Auspex, for example, it combines heightened awareness, aura scanning, telepathy, astral-projection, spirit's touch... So many different things accepted as _one_ ability, but it covers a lot more than we assume."

"Hmm. That sounds more to be a kind of Soul/Ethereal Magic to me for the most part," Edminster said. "But grouping even completely totally wacko different crap together ain't so unheard of. Check out this bonzo early Talent chart."

He waved a paw and changed it to a very early diagram representing how Talents were viewed when the Elkandu were first founded.

"See how Healing and Death were considered totally opposite things, unrelated in any way? And Catalysm and Void ain't even been dreamt of yet. Mind, Dream, and Illusion were thought related. And some stuff nobody knew quite where to put at all and shoved it in random places. Lightning got stuck under Fire..."

Jasmine chuckled. "Yeah, I can see where they definitely improved on or at least updated their perceptions on the Talents. Trying to untangle the mess of the various disciplines is going to be a bit weird, especially the ones that work without any real conscious thought, like Potence and Fortitude. Celerity is another odd one." She could probably spend hours or _years_ trying to pin all of them down without error.

"I am quite skilled in the ways of Omnimancy and descriptions of whatall y'all might do with each of these here 'Disciplines' I could sort em up all groovy-like, eh?"

He waved a hand again and put up a chart that displayed the disciplines she mentioned and sorting lists under them of the abilities she had mentioned so far as belonging to what, each ability outlined in the colors corresponding to their Elkandu Talents.

Jasmine looked at the revised chart, and hmmed. "What's really weird is that it just doesn't seem to make any sense. Why have specific abilities drawing from a Talent but not the other aspects of it? And why does gen figure in?"

She folded her arms and stares at the chart, trying to _force_ it to make sense, but not having much luck with it.

"Not every previous grouping of abilities has contained all the wacky ways that type of ability might be used," Edminster said. "In fact, we don't kenny every possible way everything can be used yet, o'course. New stuff gets found out all the time. Now, just tell me what each of these here disciplines can do, and I'll try and put em in place, righty then?"

Jasmine nodded and started going through the disciplines she had personally. Auspex, Presence, and Celerity were clan disciplines, and she'd gained various levels of facility in Protean, Potence, and Fortitude as well. The physical disciplines were pretty simple at the levels she had them, at least, it wasn't until the later levels that some of them got a bit... interesting.

As she described each ability, a little box with it appeared underneath the appropriate discipline, the more obvious ones gaining Talent colors immediately. Apparently Edminster thought Potence sounded like "applied biokinesis", to which even Sarril looked puzzled at. Regardless, he seemed to think it somehow fell under Motion-Telekinesis. Jasmine was a little puzzled at that one as well, both it and Fort were considered physical rather than mental abilities. She shrugged it off mentally for later consideration and took a look at the chart that had formed out of the mess.

"Hummmm." She grinned wryly. "Makes about as much sense as I was thinking, which is to say not a heck of a lot."

"It seems wonky that so many of these seem to focus more on the bod than the brain," Edminster said. "But perhaps it should not seem so weird to me, for it makes mondo sense for a more physically oriented bunch than the Elkandu."

"It pays to be able to outrun or survive a hit by something that weighs 900 pounds, stands ten feet tall, and has claws with your name on em," Jasmine smirked. "That's more the domain of some of the other clans, but," she shrugs, "I picked up a bit here and there that I found useful. Only Auspex, Cel, and Presence are actually part of what any Torrie is going to have immediate access to without trading for training."

He waved his hand, this time to rearrange the chart to display the Talent chart again, but with disciplines instead of spell labels, some of them intersecting and overlapping differently than with the Elkandu talents. He put Potence on the intersection between Motion and Flesh, Celerity above it intersecting Time as well, and Fortitude below it intersecting Security.

"Hmm, now, how does that look to you, babe? Any other of these 'disciplines' you have not mentioned I could slap on?"

Jasmine was actually fairly knowledgeable in mattered relating to the Kindred and their abilities, a perk of being her Sire's childe, and rolled off the basic descriptions of Obfuscation, Domination, Chimerstry, and Obtenebration. She was sure there were a few more minor ones out there that she wasn't remembering offhand, but that was most of them. As she described them, their names popped up on the chart in the appropriate places.

She smirked. "And then there was Thaumaturgy, though the Warlocks are gone now. The discipline itself is pretty straightforward, sounds a lot like what you call Blood Magic. Their _rituals_ , on the other hand, covered pretty much anything you could think of from wards to weather control."

Edminster said, "Many things could be connivered up by a ritual that would normally be way-out of a person's normal ability. Hmm, an interesting system, betcha quite handy back where yer from, but with its own glaring gaps just like the Talent system, eh?"

"Lots of gaps," Jasmine agreed, looking it over. "And a lot of jumping around from one Talent to another from one level of discipline to the next. Probably gets even stranger with the higher levels. So, the big question is still this... why?"

"Imperfect knowledge of the relationships between abilities and staunch adherence to 'the way things are', methinks," Edminster replied smoothly. "Withall ain't no consideration, I betcha, to thinkin' about what you _could_ do, if'n ye put yer mind to it. They say that saying 'I can't' is the first step to making sure that statement is true."

"Yeah, which is what that prick was saying." Jasmine smirked. "Guess I have to give him some credit for it, at least."

She looked at the chart again, paying particular attention to the classifications he'd placed on the disciplines she personally used.

"'Think outside the box', so to speak," Edminster said. "If you always insist on limiting yourself to just what you _think_ you'll only ever be able to do without gaining or changing something extraordinary, it stands a good way toward making that true. And a lot can even be done with 'lesser' abilities that don't require a lot of raw power, just skill."

"That makes sense, even if the rest of this," Jasmine swept a gesture at the screwy chart, "doesn't, or what effect generation and the potency of blood has. Suppose it'll give me an idea of what areas to look into a bit more, at least, to see what _might_ be done rather than sticking with what's always been assumed to be true."

"I do not understand your yammer of 'generation' and 'blood potency'," Edminster said. "But Elkandu often believed that they had a hard, fast limit on how powerful they could become... This limit is, however, a good deal higher than they think it is usually. Normal mages are limited to a power-rating of one-hundred, while Elkandu with even one ascension can attain a rating of two-hundred. None of which probably applies to vampires, of course.

"Well, I won't get into the general explanation," Jasmine chuckled. "It'd probably just bore you with ancient history, but it does have some definite physical effects that deal with a vampire's use of the blood pool. There's got to be some sort of spirit or soul connection in there, too, since going up in gen gives access to greater abilities as well, effectively improving the potential. Hmm."

"Some form or another of ascension similar to that used by the Elkandu, no doubt," Edminster said, shrugging. "My own power rating is around one hundred and twenty or so, as while I am ascended, I have not gone to the huffy work of maxing meself out to it as yet. T'was a system developed by Suzcecoz..."

"That could explain it." Jasmine nodded, looking thoughtfully over at Sarril. "Especially if one of a younger generation displayed greater power than their Sire, who in turn might have been a little lazy in developing their own potential." She grinned a little, then looked back to Ed. "Thank you so much for your help, it helped untangle the mess a bit in my mind at least."

Sarril smirked broadly. "I'm personally inclined to think Keolah was a rather weird instance of something not-normal going on."

Edminster said, "Oh, definitely, righto and toots, by all logic Keolah should not even _exist_ since her prebirth can no longer be her."

Sarril said, "Um. Let's just stick to the subject at hand and not confuse Jasmine _too_ much today."

"Who was talking about Keolah?" Jasmine smirked, that wasn't really something she knew much about other than the very brief encounter aboard the Eyes of Truth anyways. "And yes, let's not confuse the poor, easily muddled Toreador any more than needed, shall we?" She chuckled. "I'm sure looking into what some of the Talents can do will be confusing enough!"

Sarril said, "And Streyka I think is a case of just ending up with a completely different ability and not just being stronger... Speech is considered a 'higher' ability than Illusion, but Sedder can do some damned fine things with Illusion that I could never dream of..."

"Oh fine, take all the fun out of it." Jasmine smirked, then looked back at the rabbit. "Thanks again, I think I'll go take a look at some reference material and see what kind of trouble I can get myself into."

Edminster said, "Happy to help, take care, and don't let the genies bite." He winked, then turned translucent and hopped into the ceiling.

Jasmine just stood there, looking up at the ceiling where Ed had disappeared, then dropped her eyes back to Sarril. "I'm not sure if it's a good sign or not that things like that aren't quite as weird as they were a few days ago," she remarked.

"He's a djinn," Sarril said by means of explanation. "That's his ascension." He headed toward the door.

Jasmine chuckled lightly and traipsed after Sarril, the dispelling or at least modification of the mystery leaving her feeling lighter. "Well I'm going to see what I can dig up here," she said, stopping in the hall, and smiled. "Probably be some pretty dull stuff if you want to meet up somewhere else later."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he said with a grin. "I could always stand to find out more about how they think things work these days."

"Well if you _insist_ ," Jasmine replied and slipped an arm around to snare one of his with a grin. "Who am I to argue?" She dragged him off to delve into far drier pursuits than prior kidnappings.


	22. Suzcecoz

The classes in the School of Thought entailed a number of subjects on various levels and complexity, and Jasmine no doubt found out a good deal about how the Elkandu did things if nothing else.

So after they were through there, heading back out to the square, Sarril spotted a couple more vampires from a distance heading from the gardens toward Frost's Square and paused to ask Jasmine, "Hey, do you know them?"

Jasmine looked in that direction, looks the two over, and shook her head. "Nope, neither of them look familiar to me, though the guy's dress style is dead on for about mid-twenty-first back home." She shrugged, looking at Sarril. "Not familiar to you either?"

"Nope," Sarril said. "They're not any of mine." He shrugged, and turned to head down Thought's Road back toward the Nexus. He glanced up again as a spaceship flew close by overhead from where they'd gone and disappeared into the distance. "Icarus? Ominous name for a spaceship."

"Icarus... uh yeah, I don't think I'd want to be flying in that one." Jasmine smirked. "Bad omen for getting too close to the sun, y'know?" She strolled along casually back toward the Nexus. "Are there usually this many of us running around here?"

"Not usually. Maybe they're from Mezulbryst or some other world, I dunno." He shrugged. "Not really my responsibility, thankfully."

"Or mine," Jasmine replied brightly, "That sort of thing tends to get left to Raph back in Selenis anyway... humm..." She frowned and turned her attention to the ground as they walked.

Sarril came back to the Nexus and opened up his computer to check where Suzcecoz was at the moment, then looked to the time zone chart to make sure it was night there at the moment, only to discover the planet she was on was so obscure it wasn't even on the chart.

"Mophilia, where the hell is that..." he mumbles. "Never heard of it."

"I don't know," Jasmine replied and nudged him in the shoulder with a grin. "You're supposed to be the all-knowing native guide, not doing much to inspire awe from the tourists right now. I'd suggest you make a quick turnaround before they get out of hand and maul you."

Sarril snickered softly. "She must have picked some out of the way planet to do research and experiments on or something."

He pulled up a visual of the place on the computer instead, and determined that it did appear to be night where she was, and stepped into the Nexus to activate it and send them there.

"Might consider mauling anyway," Jasmine murmured, then whistled innocently as she stepped up to the Nexus and went to follow him through.

Suzcecoz was out in the middle of a field in the late evening, the skies still a little gray after sunset, and working diligently on some sort of inexplicable device. It was fairly large and complex and she appeared to be constructing it with the assistance of numerous tiny robotic spiders.

"I wonder what she's doing with _those_?" Jasmine wondered, seeing the spiders, then hmmed as she noticed that they were a little different in detail from the few that she'd seen before. She'd just about _killed_ Nicholas when he'd introduced her to the damn things... by throwing one at her! The Glass Walker who'd gone along with the gag had gotten a good laugh out of it, the recording was probably still circulating. Gah.

Suzy glanced up from her work for a moment and said, "Oh, visitors. Hello. What can I do for you?"

"Hello," Jasmine replied politely, looking the machine over without any real recognition or _clue_ what the thing was supposed to be, then edged away as one of the spiders got a little too close and turned her full attention back to Suzcecoz. "Nothing really to do for us, I was just curious to see the person that Sarril here kept raving about." She grinned at him, then took a quick hop back as a spider scurried by. " _Hate_ those things!"

Sarril chuckled softly, and Suzy said, "Sorry, let's go to my office, they can handle finishing up the secondary dimensional relay themselves." She led them off toward a building.

Sarril said, "Suzy, this is Jasmine. Jasmine, Suzcecoz Ilawi."

Suzy added, "Also known as Roanin Riakeri, or Celise Soulfire Shadowhand. But you can call me Suzy."

"Pleased to meet you." Jasmine smiled. "And sorry about that, I have a thing about robotic spider spirit thing... whatevers after having one thrown at me." She shivered at the memory and tossed a glance back toward the machine to make sure none of the little creepy-crawlies were tagging along.

"It's okay," Suzy said, showing them into her office. There were a number of computer screens and terminals around the room, with images displaying different parts of the planet. "My little helpers are harmless, really. Usually."

Jasmine smirked. "What, no warning about not staying still too long unless you want to end up stuck that way forever? I can only _hope_ they were joking about that whole 'calcification' thing. Eesh. Anyway." She took a curious look around.

Suzy chuckled softly. "Well, welcome to my workshop. I've been doing research on chaos theory and some other technobabble, but I noticed a spike in interdimensional activity from the Eyes of Truth so I decided to build a few relays to augment its capacity. Shouldn't notice any slowdown there."

"Well I doubt I account for _all_ of that." Jasmine grinned. "Even if I have been bouncing back and forth a bit to take a look around on this side of things. Certainly a useful way to get around!"

"What? Oh, I meant with the computer relays, not with the Nexus," she said. "The Nexus isn't under my jurisdiction."

"Oh," Jasmine chuckled. "Well I can't speak for _that_ at all, other than getting Sarril hooked on the usefulness of keeping logged in." Of course she wouldn't know about what the Glass Walkers would be up to, on the one hand, or that Vicky would have been tossing various data from the universe she'd recently been visiting that way as a sort of exchange for what she'd gotten from the Eyes.

"It's not a worry, with the new relays it should be able to handle a much-increased bandwidth capacity without any problems," she said, stretching a bit. "But I doubt you're here to discuss technobabble or you'd have already started it up." She said with a grin.

Jasmine grinned and held up her hands in warding. "Oh no, not me. I'm a tech user, not an innovator, I'll leave that sort of thing to the Glass Walkers! I suppose I'm more just curious, being a relative newcomer and just now getting an idea of how some things work."

"I figured," she said gently. "But who are these Glass Walkers you speak of?"

Sarril murmured, "Uh-oh."

'Uh-oh?' Jasmine shot a look over and mouthed the question to Sarril, then grinned and turned back to Suzy. "They're one of the shapeshifter groups back in the World of Darkness, a tribe of the Garou more specifically. They spend a lot more time in cities than most of the others, and seem to have a lot of the same interest in technology that you do. They're responsible for some pretty amazing stuff since the Awakening."

Suzy absently brought up on one of the screens some information from the Eyes of Truth about what she was talking about. "Oh, I remember that place, I got stranded there some while ago when Shazmar was screwing around..."

"So yeah, that's the Glass Walkers..." Jasmine said, then frowned, looking back at the door and then returning to look at Suzy. "Wait, so those aren't just some kind of similar design?" More than one mass of those creepy things in the universes? Yick!

"Nah, I made a few little modifications," Suzy said, shrugging. "I kind of miss my old Volkswagen van, sometimes. That thing was handy, let me tell you."

Jasmine didn't want to know anything more about the spiders, not wanting to think about one that big by any stretch of the imagination, or... she shuddered. "Errr, right," she said, "So how is it that you work with those things but don't know the Glass Walkers? I've always gotten the impression that they're... well, not tools exactly, more like allies or something. Spirit friends."

"I didn't exactly spend much time there," Suzy said. "I kind of made it a point to leave as quickly as possible. Even if it meant building an interdimensional Volkswagen."

"Oh, you weren't talking about one of _those_ the _size_ of a VW." Jasmine snickered. "Okay, I was wondering, since Nicholas insists they _so_ get that big. Thankfully he's never shown me proof. Hummm, so why do you leave quickly and quietly as possible, some kind of Prime Directive idea?"

"I don't think I arrived at a particularly pleasant period in its history," Suzy replied dryly.

Jasmine smirked. "All things considered, probably not. History's pretty much saturated with periods like that, only to be expected with all the supernaturals that are neutral at best and antagonistic as the norm. Things seem a little more civilized around here, overall."

"Yeah, at least when people aren't trying to destroy the universe, convert people to worship of insane gods, or destroy alternate versions of themselves from other timelines..."

"At least they don't look to be constantly trying to kill each other, or get a good knife in the back." Jasmine grinned. "Can't complain about that _too_ much. I mean, how often does a _real_ crisis occur around here?"

"Sometimes you get a good few decades to centuries with nothing of import happening," Suzy said. "And other times, it seems feces is flying all over one thing after another for several years in a row."

Jasmine chuckled. "Seems pretty quiet just now, compared to some of the wars I've heard rattled off which led to this or that branch doing this, that, or the other thing just to stay viable."

"Yeah, we're just recovering now from an invasion of the Chaos fleets from another universe," Suzy said. "Nasty that."

"Haven't heard much about that," Jasmine said. "Only a few passing references while lurking here or there. What was going on with that?" Personally it seemed like TE in general was chaos, but it was a sort she found intriguing.

Suzy went into a detailed dissertation on Chaos and what they had done here recently, and how it ended for them.

"Awww, sounds like I missed all the fun," Jasmine replied dryly. "I'll try and remember to schedule my next trip to coincide with next interdimensional assault by nutcases. Sheesh! You'd think they'd have enough to do back wherever they came from without pushing into another universe."

"You'd think," Suzy said. "At least the ones that took over since then are staying there, thankfully."

"Now all you have to worry about is the newest influx of vampires in the Nexus." Jasmine smirked. "Should be remote enough out here to not have the neighborhood ruined, though."

"Meh, vampires are the least of my concerns. I surely don't care what they do."

"That's good, I think," Jasmine chuckled, then snapped her fingers, remembering a note to herself after a semi-obscure reference by Sarril on Lezaria and connecting it to one of the names Suzy'd introduced herself by. "Almost forgot, and this seems like a good opportunity to ask since _someone_ just glossed over it..." She grinned. "What are the Shadowhands? It got mentioned as a brief aside to a side-topic of a minor point, etc."

"Well," Suzy said. "Morring Chelseer had a daughter named Caera, who rebelled against her mother and changed her surname to Shadowhand. Caera's daughter was Theryn, who is my mother in this lifetime. The rest of them are descended from my sisters."

"Ah, so just a name-change of convenience." Jasmine nodded. "Nothing particularly odd about it like mixing dragon blood into the line." Mmm... Oh stop! she chided herself sternly, and managed a grin. "I thought there might be something more unusual in it."

"Nope, drow blood, not dragon," Suzy said. "Morring fell under the Curse of the Drow unwittingly because it was she who led the drow into their depravity and cruelty that led to the instatement of the curse. Thankfully they've learned their lesson by this point for the most part."

"Yeaaah, heard something about that while flitting about," Jasmine said, "Guess the saying's 'beware drow bearing gifts' around here. Doesn't seem like a particularly good way to keep people from wanting to wipe you out, to me."

Suzy, however, definitely looked human and not even elvish at the moment, with dark hair and golden eyes. Well, the eyes might be a bit odd for a human, but still. Of course, her aura was unusually bright, and marked with the red, black, silver, and white of Fire and Soul magic, along with flecks of many other colors. Not to mention the whole double thing indicating her demonic possession, but anyway.

Suzy shrugged. "They're not so bad these days, really. They stopped sacrificing babies a few centuries ago after they realized it wasn't helping."

Jasmine found the aura interesting, but not enough to ask and possibly anger a shapeshifter of some sort... at least that was the interpretation the brightness would mean in familiar terms. "Uhh yeah, they didn't look quite up to _that_ level." Jasmine grimaced. "Though the one group out on Khizsalr probably wouldn't hesitate to go that way."

"Oh, them," Suzy said. "They weren't born drow, they just artificially made themselves that way using the drowrings the drow in Chasm's Edge used to transform breeding stock into drow, after they were busy kidnapping human girls from nearby villages ... There weren't originally any drow on Khizsalr."

"There does seem to be an awful lot of elf types out this way." Jasmine mused. "Seems you bump into one kind or another every time you turn around."

Suzy snickered. "Yes, they're from Lezaria originally. Just genetically modified humans, really. And then they started calling themselves 'high elves' or 'wood elves' or 'snow elves' and whatnot based on what color their hair was or where they lived. It got a bit silly, really. Especially since most of them were so interbred that it was hard to tell which type you were anyway. Like Keolah, for instance, is as much wood elf as song elf..."

"Definitely different from the elves back home," Jasmine said, "Only one kind that I've ever seen, but they're _definitely_ not human and never have been. Unlike some of the others who used to be born as human and then spontaneously manifest later on, at least until the Awakening."

"Heh. You'll find most of the different 'species' around the Elkandu worlds were just modified humans at some point in their history. The only exceptions are the Nali, who were created that way, and possibly the rabbitfolk, as well as anyone from other universes that set up shop here of course. Changers did some crazy things back in the past."

Suzy, ever easily distracted, went and poked at a piece of machinery absently. "Oh, bother," she said, as there was a sound of something that probably shouldn't have happened. She extended claws from one hand and went to poke inside it a bit thoughtfully, having entirely forgotten she had guests.

Jasmine blinked at the sudden change, glanced over at Sarril in question, and had some sudden rather unpleasant images of things going 'boom' as she edged a couple steps nearer the door. "It was nice meeting you," she said quietly, not wanting to distract the woman from the work and not certain she wanted to draw attention back.

Sarril smirked faintly and agreed a bit, and headed outside. "Yeeah. As I said. Keeps to herself, and all that."

"Well hopefully there aren't _too_ many explosions around here," Jasmine said, looking around for signs of blast damage, then laughed. "I guess the stereotype for the mad scientist is there for a reason, after all."

Sarril laughed lightly. "Shall we head back?" From the looked of things, Suzy would probably never even notice they had left, if she even remembered they had come in the first place.

"Sounds good to me!" Jasmine replied cheerfully, shaking her head in amusement.


	23. Ties of Blood

Jasmine Recalled to the Nexus. She walked slowly off the platform and took a look around, quietly thoughtful.

Sarril followed her, stretching a bit. "Well, that was appreciably pointless." He paused and laughed again.

"Oh I don't know," Jasmine replied, grinning a bit at him. "No more or less pointless than dealing with any meth I've come across. Some people just seem to work on another level, probably from having been around so long."

"Chronologically, she's younger than me," Sarril said. "But then, she spent a loooot of time in time fields and doing explorations like Keolah. I know she spent a few centuries on Daresa and she came back suddenly building spaceships and stuff."

Jasmine smirked. "You old-timers, always fixated on dates and time, silly people." Just went to show how far out of her depth she was, she sighed mentally.

"Heyy, now, I'm only seven hundred or so, I'm not that old!" Sarril reached over to poke her playfully.

Jasmine ducked away, grinning. "Hey, that's old enough and then some to be an Elder, except in Europe maybe where you'd still be an Ancilla and I'd be a lowly Neonate." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Whatever," Sarril said lightly. "So what you wanna do now?"

Jasmine clasped her hands behind her and walked idly around him, looking down. "Well, first I want to say that I appreciate all the time you've taken showing me around. Thanks." She looked up and smiled at him. "And then... guess I'd ask if there's anyone out here that could use a gopher or extra set of hands to help out now and then. The more I see, the less I want to go back to the World of Darkness..." She shrugged and looked down again. "All that's really back there for me is my family, and I can visit them whenever. Anything else..." she made a face, "You didn't see much of the Elysium scene, but I wouldn't miss _that_ at all. I could probably get a decent letter of reference from Cordelia, though." She grinned a little.

Sarril reached over to put an arm around her waist. "Don't worry so much about that all that. But I can tell you you'd certainly be more than welcome around here." He grinned broadly.

"I suppose I can live with that," Jasmine replied and leaned against him with a quiet sigh combined of equally contentment and discontent, then looked up at him with a quirked grin. "But that still didn't answer your question, did it? Hmm. How about a bit more of Lezaria? What I've seen so far that has to deal with it has been _very_ nice."

Sarril smiled and said, "Certainly." He meandered toward the Nexus and glanced at the chart briefly and grinned a bit as he settled on a place. "I know just the place."

"Hmm, I wonder if I should trust that look," Jasmine mused suspiciously, amused, then shrugged and smirked. "In for a penny. Let's go." She walked up and waited for him to drag them off to some new and probably bizarre locale... should be fun!

Sarril activated the Nexus. When they arrived, they were on a lush island filled with life... plants, flowers, trees, animals, fish, birds, insects. Between the trees, they could see the white and green moons hanging in the air, and the sound of the ocean nearby could be heard. The place felt vibrant and alive, something permeating the area on a fundamental level.

"This," Sarril whispered, "is Evra Jeven."

Jasmine went still as they emerged, drinking in the sensory input of the island in rapt silence. "Oh," she murmured at last, stirring, "It's beautiful." All the sights and sounds of a tropical isle, and that sense of 'other' laying just underneath to tantalize and tease. 

Sarril took a seat at the base of a towering tree that vaguely resembled an oak or a redwood and gently pulled her close. Much of Lezaria normally had a fairly high mana level, but this place was a good deal higher than usual even for Lezaria. From the looks of things, it didn't seem like people came here very often.

Jasmine wasn't about to complain, far from it, and nestled in with a far deeper contented sigh than the previous one. She watched the setting absently, the life of the island seeming just a bit distant at the moment.

"So what is this place?" she asked, then grinned and gently poked him in the side. "Someplace you take all the trouble-making females?"

Sarril chuckled softly, and murmured, "I haven't been here in a long time, and never with another... Nothing has changed here, though... it's still as I remember it... Evra Jeven is considered one of the most magical places on Lezaria. I don't know what you'd call it in your world's terms."

Jasmine shifted and took a closer look around them, turning her senses outward to get a real taste of the environment. "It almost reminds me of the caern in the mountains," she said, "Take away all the fuzzies, and just walk out into the area, and you get some of the same sense of... I don't know. Power? Tranquility? Life?" She shrugged. "That's the closest I've come to this, and you weren't there. Pfeh."

Sarril chuckled softly and squeezed her gently. "It's okay. I'm here now. And I don't want to leave your side," he murmured. This place always made him feel so relaxed, to almost feel like he was alive again. He hardly missed it, certainly, but sometimes...

"Damnit, why do you keep saying things that make me want to trust you?" Jasmine muttered, turning and resting her head on his shoulder. "You're not making this any easier, you know." 

"What do you mean?" he asked, giving her a look of genuine puzzlement.

"It's hard to trust Kindred," Jasmine replied quietly. "Damn near impossible, you always have to wonder what game they're _really_ playing, whether they're just manipulating you for their own reasons or plans, but..." She sighed.

"I trust you," he said quietly, leaning back and letting his eyes slide closed, completely relaxed and content. "I trust you completely."

Jasmine sighed again, frustration edging her voice. "Don't say that... Ergh." She sat up suddenly and drew away, drawing her knees up and resting her chin on them to look out into the peaceful night.

"What's wrong?" Sarril said, opening his eyes to look over at her.

"Nothing... Everything..." Jasmine replied softly, remaining motionless. "I don't know how to explain it so you'll understand _why_ this is so hard for me. Yeah, my family was a serious aberration among the Kindred, and I don't know if that's a good thing or not since it gave me a chance to see that there _can_ be something more."

"I'm sorry," Sarril said sadly, standing up and looking away, clearly not understanding what he must have done wrong. "If you don't want me, I'll just... leave you then... or something..."

"Don't want..." Jasmine choked on a laugh, and looked over at him. "What gave you _that_ really stupid idea? I'm torn between what I know as a Kindred and what I _want_ to be..."

Sarril turned around slowly to look at her, sighing softly. "I guess I never... I'm sorry... I'd never dream of using you or manipulating you... I just... I want to be yours. I'm just... afraid of... being rejected."

"Rejected?" Jasmine blinked in shock. "What in the world... _Who_ in the world could do that?" She sighed and moved back to curl beside him. "You don't even know what I was thinking, why I was wondering about trust. do you?"

Sarril put his arms around her quietly and buried his face in her shoulder. "I must sound the fool, don't I."

"No, I do," Jasmine replied, smiling softly as she reached up to stroke his hair. "Damn them all for being so paranoid and spreading it like a disease..." She sighed gently and closed her eyes, resting her cheek on his head. "Smart, fun, a sense of humor, great taste... in more ways than one," she chuckled deeply, then whispered, "And I think... worthy of trust."

"I've never known anyone like you before, Jasmine," Sarril murmured quietly. "And I don't think I will again. I would be remiss to let that slip away from me..."

"And I'd be more than a fool to let some backwater idiocy ruin it," Jasmine replied quietly. "Or some misplaced paranoia to lessen it, so..." She smiled tentatively. "I guess I've shot my own reluctance in the foot, and I'll just have to trust that you won't change or be foolish enough to get blood bound to someone else and end up transferring it over..."

"I only want to be with you, Jasmine," Sarril murmured softly. "And I want to be yours, if you'll have me..."

"Don't be silly," Jasmine chided gently. "If you think I'd willingly offer to be bound to someone without wanting it more than anything, or trusting them no matter how hard that is... But don't think having a thrall is all fun and games," she teased, "I'll expect to be fed at regular intervals."

Sarril was only becoming even more puzzled. "Er. Wait. What?" He pulled back to look at her.

Jasmine touched his cheek, smiling quietly. "If you don't want to, I'll understand, even if I won't be terribly happy about the frustration involved. But... I trust you."

"No, no, that's not it," Sarril said. "I just... I don't want a _thrall_. I could never... No, I'd never want you as anything other than an equal."

"It doesn't work that way," Jasmine replied gently. "Well, it does, but it doesn't, I," she pursed her lips, working it out in her mind, "I've had a unique opportunity to not only be blood bound to someone I cared about in Dolen, hell he raised Nicholas and me from a couple of scruffy brats dragged off the streets, but... I've also seen that someone _can_ be bound and it not be anything more than a commitment. Sophie's been bound to Dolen for over a hundred years, and if you thought she was anything less than a partner to him, you'd be dead wrong. She's probably the only reason he hasn't fallen into the ways that the old Kindred tend to, manipulating people without a care or giving a damn about anyone else. It's... good for both of them, in its way, and the only thing _I_ might worry about is whether someone might bind _you_. That would transfer _my_ bond to them, which wouldn't necessarily be a good thing..."

Sarril stood up and turned away, walking down toward the beach to stare off at the moonlight on the water, and clearly confused as all hell at the moment.

Jasmine let him go and drew herself up into a ball with her back to the tree, a little confused and wondering herself, trying to ignore the small jab of pain in her chest as she watched him in silence.

"I'm sorry. I'd certainly never seek to reject you, for how I feared myself... I just don't understand," Sarril said finally. "And I don't see why it can't work both ways. Keolah did it... Sort of..."

Jasmine smiled a little, "It doesn't work that way, there's no such thing as a 'mutual' bond. I..." She pushed herself to her feet and walked slowly over to him to touch his shoulder. "Hey, forget about it, huh? Let's just go for a walk and enjoy the scenery." That last was more of a strain than getting past the paranoia in the first place, but she hides it well.

Sarril shook his head. "No. I've spent far too much time around the Elkandu to believe that and I've seen it myself. I don't care what your world thinks is possible and what isn't."

Jasmine nodded silently and went to walk along the beach, arms held around herself against a chill that has nothing to do with the night.

Sarril mumbled, "Why are people always so focused on 'this can't be done'... You spent enough time around the Elkandu, you start to believe, anything is possible..."

Jasmine heard him, heightened awareness painfully attuned to the night, but merely murmured into the night wind, "But I'm not Elkandu..." and walked on, quickly losing herself in her own thoughts and more than a healthy dose of self-pity.

"What difference does it make? I wouldn't have considered myself one either, but by their own definitions I am," he said with a shrug. He turned around to face her with a sigh. "Jasmine..." He went over and took her up in his arms.

"Hey, it doesn't matter, right?" Jasmine said quietly, not resisting but not really responding either, and continued, "I shouldn't have brought it up in the first place, I'm sorry."

Sarril shook his head. "No. Don't say that. Please..."

"It's okay, really," Jasmine managed a smile. "There's still a few places out there I haven't dragged you off to show me yet, ought to be good for a few chuckles, eh?"

"I'm still a fool, aren't I," Sarril murmured.

"Of course not," Jasmine snorted lightly. "And you should stop saying it right now. Anyone who thinks that's true, _they're_ the fools!" She stepped back and took him by the hand, tugging. "Come on, show me around a bit, that's what a guide's for, right?"

"Jasmine..." Sarril said, his voice shaking a bit. He was certainly not about to forget about it or just let it drop, and any idiot could see something was bothering her.

"Oh come on," Jasmine said and tucked an arm through his. "It's a beautiful night, no reason to waste it just standing here staring at the sand, right?"

Sarril sighed and said, "I'm sorry. Please don't think of it the wrong way. I would do anything for you..."

Jasmine shook her head. "Just... don't, okay? It's really okay, and I understand, there's no reason to worry about it. I enjoy being around you, that's not going to change."

"No, you don't," Sarril said. "You don't understand. I don't understand. But I would never seek to hurt you. And I would never seek to reject you. Please don't..."

Jasmine sighed softly, "You're right, I don't understand, and it hurts, but I'll live and get on with it. I'm here and plan on staying there as long as you'll let me, that's what counts in the end."

"I don't want to hurt you," Sarril said quietly. "And I'm truly sorry if I did. Such was never my intention. I'm willing to do whatever you want. Anything."

 _Perversity, thy name was female_ , Jasmine mused with wry amusement. "Oh no," she said, "I'm not going to be responsible for something you'll regret later." She shrugged. "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."

The more she said "don't worry about it", the worse he seemed to get. He turned away and clenched his fists in frustration. "I've never been one for regrets."

Jasmine turned and folded her arms around him from behind, resting her cheek on his shoulder. "Then don't start now, I don't want to be the reason for it, hear?"

"The only thing I'll regret is losing you for me being an idiot," Sarril muttered.

"Stop it," Jasmine growled, briefly tightening the embrace in emphasis. "I'm not going away, not unless you want me to. I already said that, damnit, and I meant it."

"I don't want you to go away..." Sarril said quietly, relaxing a little. "What would make you happy? Tell me, honestly, please?"

"Being here makes me happy," Jasmine replied softly. "Anything else... is just detailing." It had been difficult enough to offer in the first place, now it would be even more so... strange in that she trusted him _more_ for it now than even before, as any other Kindred would have _leapt_ at the chance. And yet... she sighed.

"Detail away," Sarril murmured. "And I will do my part to make it happen."

"Hmm," Jasmine murmured thoughtfully. "There's always reestablishing the bond to Dolen. He wouldn't mind terribly." She smirked. "For the most part anyway, and that would take care of that part of things."

"Jasmine..." he said quietly, turning to look at her. "If you want it, I'll do it, but only for your sake..."

Jasmine looked down and sighs, blinking, a touch at the corner of her eye leaving a black, glistening dot on her fingertip, and she turned away to clench the hand into a fist.

"No," she replied, "I won't do something that you might regret, even if you don't think so now... what about a hundred years from now? Two?"

Sarril stood swaying slightly. "I'm not one to regret things," he murmured quietly. "And more I could regret would be refusing your wishes. I want you to be happy. Whatever that might mean to me."

"What do you think it'd do to me, to have you agree out of guilt or whatever else and then find out later..." Jasmine sighed and stalked to the water's edge, staring blankly over the tossing waves in a night suddenly turned dark with melancholy.

Sarril shook his head slowly. "Guilt? No, nothing of it. And here when we had come here I had wanted to ask _you_ to bind _me_... I was only ever afraid of you rejecting me..."

Jasmine turned slowly back to look at him, eyes wide. "Me... bind you... but why all..." She made a gesture of frustration and sank to the sand, ignoring the lap of water at her feet.

"That's why it kind of blindsided me when you..."

Jasmine chuckled softly, drawing an idle design in the sand. "What was that old line? 'Oh what fools these mortals be'? Guess that goes for us too, huh?" She sighed and looked up at him. "So, where does that leave us?"

"Very confused?" Sarril supplied helplessly.

Jasmine touched her cheek, smearing the thin stream of vitae there that glimmered black in the moonlight, and looked at her fingertips. Shaking her head, she stood slowly and walked over to him. "Not really confused, when intentions are revealed. So... what will make you happy? I... I _know_ what a good thing it can be, so I don't have any doubts about it, not now."

"Anything you want," Sarril murmured quietly, putting an arm around her. "Whatever you would prefer, I will do it, and be happy for it."

Jasmine leaned into his shoulder, chuckling quietly. "You're impossible, you know that? By any sensible standard I should be the one bound, you're older and more powerful, but you're also so..." her voice softened, "Vulnerable in a way, and unsure. Ohhh, you aren't making this easy at all!"

Sarril held her gently. "Some people are more dominant than others. Some don't really mind that they're not. There's good reason why I put Streyka in charge of Lezaria... and why, while I _could_ rightly claim dominance over some things, I choose not to. I don't want to. I may not be as submissive as Suzcecoz, but I'm no leader."

Jasmine smirked. "I guess I can see that, and I've been accused more than once of being a pushy bitch... not that I deny it, mind you!" She sighed softly. "I want to be with you, and not have to _worry_ about it, that you trust _me_ that much... Well, at least I can say I'm paranoid enough to avoid getting blood bound to anyone _else_ , and I think I could let you go if you really wanted..."

Sarril chuckled softly and leaned his head against her. "I trust you completely, Jasmine. I will do it, for you."

"If you're sure..." Jasmine replied softly, curling her hand at the curve of his jaw. "I didn't even think of the reverse, and was perfectly content with the idea of being bonded, so I know this is what I want one way or the other."

"I'm sure," Sarril said, smiling faintly to her. He seemed a good deal more relaxed and content now with that little bit having been clarified.

Jasmine just looked at him intently for a long moment, then smiled faintly. "Okay, I'm not going to argue anymore, not when it ends up in the same place anyway." She tilted her head and idly brushed her hair back to reveal the line of her throat. "Take the second step then, and the third will seal it tomorrow night."

Sarril grinned happily and leaned over to proceed to take it gladly and eagerly. Jasmine sucked in a breath at the kiss of his fangs, nothing so coherent as thought residing in the tidal pool of her mind as the ultimate pleasure available to a Kindred thrums through her. On a deeper level, she felt as the first tenuous strings of the bond were woven and begin to draw into a weave between them, and she shivered with a soul-deep delight.

After a while, Sarril slowly drew away, and sank down to rest his head on her chest contentedly. For the moment, he could think everything was right with the world, for once, and he smiled broadly.

Jasmine licked her lips and swallows, the waves of insensate desire and hunger receding only slowly within. "Hmmmrrrrr," she murmured, considerably more rational than the earlier bouts of angsting had been by a long shot. "You're so not getting away now."

"I don't want to," he whispered. "I only want to be with you. Yes..."

"I can deal with that," Jasmine admitted unhesitatingly, and murmured in contentment again at the prospect of an endless number of delightful awakenings or merely random assignations in times to come, lips curling into a smile. "Now I see why you picked this place," she said quietly, "No nosey neighbors."

He grinned at that. "Indeed," he murmured in agreement.

"And I'd guess this definitely answers the question about available job openings." Jasmine smirked, then shook her head in fond exasperation. "Why didn't you just _say_ something earlier? Here I almost thought... Don't do that again, or I'll smack you." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Sarril laughed softly. "I won't. I promise," he murmured. "Centuries of doubt and uncertainty to get past. I feared being rejected, but in the end, I felt it worth the chance."

"I still don't understand that," Jasmine replied, gently kissing him before continuing. "How in the world could you be so unsure? I can guarantee I'll be carrying a stick for the sharkettes if we ever end up in Elysium!"

"I don't know," Sarril said quietly, thinking off distantly. "I was alone for so long, after Vadrak was imprisoned... his childer were none too fond of me, especially after I killed several of them. It was a hundred years after that before I Embraced my first childe... that didn't work out too well."

"Tell me about it?" Jasmine prodded gently, content to remain here a while yet so long as the sun was cooperative and offer what soothing and ease she might. She smiles in self-amusement at just how important that seemed now, more than anything else in the world.

"He had seemed a reasonable fellow at first. Intelligent, quick-witted, easy-going. Why I picked him, of course. I didn't, at the time, realize that he worked for Sardill. Who was, at the time, going by the name 'The Dark Knight' and ruling over Flyland..."

"And Sardill planned the whole thing?" Jasmine asked, the answer seeming obvious enough but something that needed to be said to lance the old wound. Meths were very nasty that way and others...

"I don't know," Sarril said. "It's possible. I wouldn't put it past him. After I found out, well... I killed him. I didn't want to. But I couldn't allow what I had given him to be put to the purposes he was using it for."

"Sometimes Kindred have to be destroyed," Jasmine said softly, "Whether for their own actions or because they're so twisted by someone else, their minds totally warped into something else... You did what you had to."

"I didn't like having to destroy my own childe like that," Sarril murmured. "I vowed to be more careful next time. And it was another hundred years or so before the 'next time'. After the Nexus was built. After the Elkandu were founded. After... the Ten Generation Day..."

"Streyka?" Jasmine smiled. "She seems and sounds like she was a good choice, pretty level-headed and fair as far as Kindred go."

Sarril nodded. "It was Streyka. She was smart, thoughtful, charismatic, a natural leader, everyone loved her. And I was far more willing to trust a Chelseer than someone else after the previous incident."

"The ties of blood," Jasmine murmured, thinking of her own brother and the loyalty that endured there through good and bad times. "They can be really strong, and obviously worked well in that case. You two looked to get along pretty well."

There hadn't been any of the hidden tensions that ran as an undercurrent in most Sire/childe relationships, and she smiled at the thought of that being another sign she'd just now recognized.

Sarril nodded in agreement. "Course, she scared me to death sometimes. Came as quite the surprise to me when she ended up with completely different abilities from me, one of which the Elkandu had never even seen before, Speech Magic. Of course, her secondary Talent being Fire Magic was just weird and creepy. Well, they knew about something they called Speech, but they only had classified it as translation and understanding and speaking in other languages. They never conceived of it being used for persuasion or control."

"That _is_ pretty strange," Jasmine agreed, frowning in thought. "But... not necessarily unheard of or implausible, if you look at the Kindred who went into the Elkandu universe more as Caitiff than true Lasombra. One of the reasons they're not trusted by the Kindred as a whole is that there's rumors of all sorts of odd disciplines that they've developed. That'd seem to be something like what Streyka did."

"That pyromancy may seem pretty strange, but however random it might have been, most of her childer ended up with it too to one degree or another. A few others ended up with Illusion, but I'm the only one of them who had any real Shadow Magic..."

"Vadrak might have ended up being defined as Caitiff or something," Jasmine mused. "Just by some bizarre criteria of the bloodline. I've never really understood the exact reason why someone ends up one, really, it seems pretty random. But by what you said about Streyka and her childer, it would almost sound like she was strong enough in some way to actually enforce a bloodline with specific inherent abilities."

"I don't know," Sarril said. "I don't really know how it works. I'm still baffled over the idea of vampires blithely throwing fire around. And that's, well, one reason they called themselves 'Dragonblood'."

Jasmine bleched. "Yeaaah, throwing around fire isn't something that's easy to deal with, even Dragonsbreath rounds take some serious getting used-to. That'd make for a darned effective ability for dealing with other Kindred, though." She grinned a bit. "After dealing with Vadrak, the big pain in the ass, maybe that's what she subconsciously realized would be the most useful."

"You can imagine that after they turned up, the remainder of the trouble-making vampires on Lezaria got wiped out in short order, or chased off to Mezulbryst."

"Oh yeah, I could see that," Jasmine agreed readily. "And it says something more for Streyka actually having the will to found the bloodline. It's pretty rare that a new one is formed, and there's usually some sort of physical differentiation to identify them, like the, yick, Samedi. The Scourge were another more recent one, but you've seen what a determined bastard _their_ founder is."

"They generally think of me as their founder," he murmured. "But where else am I? Stuck somewhere in between, between worlds, with nowhere that was ever really mine... Physical differentiation? Um. Their blood is orange. That's weird enough..."

"Where are you?" Jasmine smiled softly. "Not stuck between worlds, or at least any more than I am. Or maybe, as the old song goes, I'm stuck in the middle with you. Doesn't seem like too bad a place to be, all things considered."

Sarril grinned. "I don't mind at all." He chuckled softly.

"And _your_ blood definitely isn't orange, I think I'd have noticed that little detail." Jasmine grinned. "So I'd say that puts a bit of a crimp in the claim of being the founder of the line, no reason to tell _them_ that, of course."

"They say it's because of the Dragon's Blood. Even the mortal members of that line have orange blood, too. I don't know. It's very confusing."

"That whole family tree looked confusing." Jasmine smirked. "But it's probably no more confused than most others... well, except for the Ten Generation Day thing, that was just weird! Seems like adding Streyka to your list of childer was a good idea, are there any others hanging around out there?"

"A couple," he said quietly. "They went to Mezulbryst ages ago, though. They liked the darkness there better."

Jasmine chuckled softly. "Can't really blame them, I'm thinking a nice little cottage on the Styx would be a lovely haven now and again, personally."

"Mezulbryst is a nice enough place now and again," Sarril commented. "The nights on Lezaria are probably longer than you're used to, too, since the day is four hours longer than that of Earth."

"So you're making a bid for living on Lezaria?" Jasmine teased. "I suppose I can deal with that, there's something to be said for getting a good nap in now and then..." She grinned, a light leer in reality. "Like waking up and having a snack."

Sarril chuckled softly. "I'm not picky. Though I'll pass on moving to Heaven. The seven suns there would be a bit excessive."

"Uhhhh." Jasmine winced. "That's not a particularly good place, we can put that low on the list along with the flaming planets to visit. Seven... Who the _hell_ would live in a place like that? That'd be enough to drive most normal people _nuts_!"

"Angels," Sarril replied. "Anyone trying to develop a tan. Skin care specialists."

"So, literally, Heaven," Jasmine blinked. "Okay, that's not something I ever expected to hear. Umm, I do hope that god here isn't too cranky about little things like Kindred?"

"The 'god' here is a little kid who is more likely to hand out blood lollipops if you ask nicely," Sarril said dryly.

Jasmine glared at him with mock ferocity as she caught the reference. "I am _not_ going to mention _that name_ again, I remember the last time!" She grinned and sighed with exaggerated contentment. "No one else allowed here, just now. And it's at least good to know that the freaky wrath-of-god type god of various religious nutballs back home doesn't actually exist here."

Sarril chuckled softly, and snuggled up to her contentedly. "Yeah, not much worry about that. Of course, people are fully capable of being non-religious fanatical nutballs, too."

"Well true," Jasmine smirked. "But at least there aren't a million of them screaming for your blood and waving torches, flamethrowers, and the like. With the low Kindred population out this way, I'd be surprised if there's more than one or two Hunters in the whole mess."

"Not that I've ever noticed," Sarril said. "Most of the vampires on Lezaria who were killed at some point or another were killed by other vampires. Or, you know, from the whole 'burning down the entire town' business during the Chaos invasion, and I doubt they even cared if there might be a vampire or two in the town."

Jasmine smiled and shrugged. "Minor difficulties. If you're too slow to get out of the way of an invasion, then you should be fighting against it. Either way's a good way to end up final dead, so I don't really recommend it! Terrible career choice during the Unification Wars, to be actively involved on either side."

"And that's why I happily spent the intervening time over on Wilderplane," Sarril said with a quiet chuckle. "I'm not much of a warrior, I'm afraid."

"That's okay." Jasmine grinned. "I do well enough in that regard to buy a bit of time for you to make a break for it. By preference, though, staying out of the way of that kind of conflict is best. the occasional bit of individual violence... well, sometimes you just have to do what has to be done. Like Vadrak, hmm?"

"Yeah... Of course, Falk did most of the work, and it's not like we didn't catch the guy asleep..."

Jasmine poked him lightly. "That's the best time to do it, if you can manage it. Have to give _him_ that much, he did actually keep you out of trouble there, I was worried about that."

"Yeah, he didn't let me step on the flaming-oil trap or anything. That wouldn't have been a good day."

"No, Flambe de Sarril is _not_ on the menu." Jasmine smirked. "Well with any luck there won't be anything quite that dangerous lurking around to drag you off again. Thankfully Kindred tend to keep to their own business, unless it's something sneaky-manipulative."

"And a good enough thing at that," Sarril said. "Though with some of Vadrak's brood still mucking about the galaxy, you never know. Least they shouldn't be too dangerous."

"Depends on how much he got around to training them," Jasmine said. "And you said he couldn't have been out _too_ long, while the ones from his first outing were mostly cleaned out or moved happily off to Mezulbryst. Don't see too much trouble coming out of them, not personally anyway, maybe for the universe as a whole..." She smirked.

"I'll bet that while they might toy around with some mensch until they get bored of it, if they're stupid enough to try to mess with anyone that could kick their asses, they won't live long anyway."

"Hmmm, yeah, probably." Jasmine nodded. "The survival instinct is pretty strong in Kindred, which is a good thing for the kine as a whole. Saves a lot of expenses buying torches and organizing marches." She chuckled quietly. "So that'll just leave whatever happens to leap out when we go poking around on different worlds... like vampiric teddy bears."

"But they're awfully cute," Sarril said. "All fuzzy with itty-bitty fangs..."

Jasmine snickered. "Yes, you're going to have to show me, they sound too odd to pass up seeing, maybe even cute in a kid's nightmarish sort of way. Of course that'll have to get fit in among the million other things to see and do, like getting more familiar with your side of the family. Good thing we've got some time, huh?"

"Yeah, we've only another 6 months to 500 years before the next interdimensional disaster, depending," Sarril said lightly.

"Hummm, think we can find a nice out of the way universe by then?" Jasmine asked lightly. "One sure to be out of the most recent blast radius?"

"Usually," Sarril said. "There's plenty of them, after all. Though I'm not sure how keen you might be on visiting the Star Wars universe."

"I think I'll pass," Jasmine replied with a shudder. "I'd be afraid of running across one of Lucas' abominations, despite what Ms. Kedaire said about them not existing. There's got to be something out there that's nice and dark, perfectly cozy for two," she grins.

Sarril chuckled. "Perfectly noted. I'm sure there's lots of nice places."

"Well we'll just have to go out looking for the perfect spot," Jasmine replied cheerfully, and grinned. "In a few days anyway. No sense putting things off, after all."

Sarril chuckled. "Mmm, certainly...." He closed his eyes and leaned back, smiling contentedly.


	24. Happily Purring

Jasmine was quite contented to let time pass in idyllic repose, delightedly, sillily so, in fact, and spared only a moment's thought to the mockery her brother would cast or the fondly knowing smirk of her Sire... well, they could just... The moment of embarrassed pique passed as quickly as it rose, leaving her to fixate on all the little details of the night and her companion, one might almost say obsessively, possessively so.

Eyes closed and so intent on the night and the delightful turn of events, relaxed and nearly purring in the glow of shared blood and conversation, that she didn't even notice as certain... changes occur. She'd been capable of turning into a mist for several years now, and she had been quietly hoping that the unexpected changes that seemed a part of Protean evolving were well and truly done.

A deep and rumbling purr emerged from her throat, most befitting the moment of inclination as well as the rather feline changes which had manifested. No real size had been gained of the transformation, but a lush coating of silver to white fur with a delicate patterning of spots was definitely new, as were the facial and bodily differences most resembling a snow leopard.

Sarril turned his head to look at her and blinked slowly. Jasmine didn't seem to notice as yet, continuing to rumble a deeply satisfied purr, her eyes narrowed to mere slits that glowed faintly in the moonlight. All she needed is a few canary feathers and the setting would be complete.

Sarril thought, 'Okay then...' and just proceeded to do the only logical thing that comes to mind, and petted her.

The rumbling purr deepened at the attention and the narrowed eyes turn to Sarril with a quiet gleam. Jasmine was apparently not very observant just now, perhaps thinking it just another moment of the night to assign fondly to memory, and dipped her head to rub her muzzle gently against his cheek.

Sarril chuckled softly and said, "Mmm. This something new, love?"

"Mrrrowl?" Jasmine returned, then started in surprise as _that_ got through to her, eyes going wide in sudden near-panic as she tried to get an idea of what... "Meeerrrrrrrrooooowrrrr!" she wailed piteously, suddenly at somewhat of a loss, understandably so!

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Sarril said, sitting back on his heels and getting a good look at her.

Jasmine tried to stand, but found herself suddenly tumbling to the side as the retrograde nature of her new legs threw things off just a bit. Reflexes clearly weren't a problem, though, as a pawed hand flashed out to catch herself. The long tail switched energetically as she sat back down and took a good look down at herself, then looked at him.

"So... Um..." Sarril said nervously. "Is spontaneously turning into a cat normal for vampires from your world, I wonder?" He scratched his head.

Jasmine shook her head and tried to say something again, then mrowfts in irritation and her ears lay flat as the expected resulting purrs and growls emerged. Oh, she was _so_ going to punch Sophie the next time she went home! Dolen had wanted them to learn Protean from her at least up through earth meld for safety, unfortunately the later levels had begun to spontaneously manifest along the way. She made another sound of exasperation and folded her arms, thinking.

"I'm afraid I don't think I can really help much, though..." Sarril said helplessly.

Now how had Sophie done that, Jasmine wondered, and tried to focus on the weird part inside that dealt with the transformations she'd already gotten used to. "S'okay," she slurred, not clearly but at least legibly, and her ears perked in delight at the minor success and focused a little more on the same area to manage a bit more clarity. "Protean, didna expec' anythin' mo'."

"Protean? One of those disciplines you were telling Edminster about?" Sarril said.

Jasmine nod-nodded, working to refine it a little more and managing a fairly normal reply, albeit in a more husky, feline accent. "Mmyeah, it's linked to Change here. I just didn't expect anything more, I haven't worked on the discipline in _decades_."

"So uh, it just kind of, spontaneously decided to turn you into a cat? How? Why?" Sarril wondered, raising an eyebrow.

Jasmine mrrowled in discontent, then took a second look and had to at least admit that it was a _pretty_ transformation. "I don't know," she replied, "It's something weird about the thing that it just kind of keeps evolving and changing, even if all you're doing is using the old stuff with it. Turning into a four-legged wolf the first time was a _nightmare_ , not to mention a _mist_."

"Well," Sarril said. "If it's any consolation, I think you make a very lovely cat..."

What cat could possibly avoid preening at a compliment, especially one who was also female and quite thoroughly and disgustingly besotted? Jasmine did so with a purrrrr, the coughed laughter as she caught herself at it. "Okay, now to figure how to turn it _off_."

"Yeah, that might help too," Sarril said with a grin, sitting back to watch her and let her get the hang of that, as he couldn't hardly do it for her.

Jasmine sinuously crawled over, the four-legged routine was something familiar at least, and took advantage of the form and its senses for just a moment to curl up and _purr_ around him, then ambled off a few steps to see what could be done. It took a little work and intense concentration, but she did manage to return to her normal form in a few minutes and sighed in relief.

Sarril stretched a bit. "So you can turn into a cat now, I guess. I guess I shouldn't find it so strange... something similar happens to the Elkandu from time to time, I guess... You can imagine my surprise the first time I saw Streyka turn into a dragon."

"It's not something I use often," Jasmine replied, smirking as she moved back over beside him. "Claws and the glowy eye thing are useful enough, and earth-meld can save your hide when it comes to being stuck in the middle of nowhere with the sun coming up, but the shapeshifting thing? Meh."

"Admittedly not a particularly huge dragon, but still," Sarril went on rambling. "But she was the first one since Lexen to bring that legend to reality."

"Well no, you don't generally see a huge mass change," Jasmine said. "Not unless you're talking a natural shapeshifter. The fuzzies gain a lot, and let's not go into what some of the sharks do. Eesh." Seeing Old Salty once in any of his forms was intimidating to say the least.

"Supposedly there was this old legend about any of the Children of the Dragon's Blood being capable of turning into a dragon, but only a handful have ever managed it..." He shrugged.

"Did they just not try hard enough, or is there more to it?" Jasmine asked. "I could see where something like that would take a good deal of willpower, netting Streyka a few _more_ points in that regard." She grinned.

Sarril chuckled. "Supposedly it wasn't exactly very easy to do. I asked her about it, but hell if I could ever even get partway there, never mind all the way." He shrugged.

"Not surprising," Jasmine poked him playfully. "You don't exactly seem quite as determined as your childe when it comes to things like that."

"I don't really mind so much, anyway," Sarril said, grinning at her. "She could never come close to me in Illusion, after all."

Jasmine chuckled. "I suppose, I suppose, everyone must have their illusions, after all... pun intended." She may hate it, but the occasional giggle did escape, such as now.

Sarril grinned and looked off to the water. The moons were sinking low to the horizon by this point, casting shimmering silver and green light across the water. Some lights on the short on the mainland in the distance could be seen faintly.

Oh, she loved that grin, or the smile, it sure beat the abject expression of not too long ago or the hard inflexibility when he'd gone after Vadrak. Jasmine looked out in the direction he was and asked curiously. "What's over there? I don't even know exactly where _here_ is since someone cajoled an innocent traveler to go astray for his own nefarious purposes..." She did the exaggerate innocence look quite well, overall.

"We're on the island of Evra Jeven -- well, I supposed that's redundant since 'Evra' means 'Island' in Zarhian, but anyway. It's located off the southern coast of Zarhanna, the northern continent of Lezaria, at the mouth of the river Tangor. Over there is the city of Kaminus in the country of Noraley. It's inhabited by red elves. That is the highly original name given to the elves that have red hair."

Jasmine snickered. "Yes, I remember Suczecoz saying something along the lines of their naming conventions being pretty... conventional. Snow elves and these red elves certainly seem to fit the pattern, though I'm not sure just where the drow fit into the scheme of things."

"They're dark elves who clearly read too many cliched fantasy novels," Sarril commented.

"And don't forget the rings," Jasmine smirked. "I wonder if they have a 'One Ring' running around someplace, or if Tolkien was a little too highbrow for them."

"Oh, at one point, there were some powerful magical artifacts on Lezaria called the Ten Rings. One just wasn't good enough, apparently," Sarril said. "But they got destroyed or went missing during the Planar Wars."

"Considering there's a Star Wars and Star Trek universe out there," Jasmine chuckled. "I'm surprised _someone_ hasn't come up with the idea. Tolkien was very popular for a looooong time. I think some of the new sharkettes _still_ drag him out of the dustbin now and then."

"Oh, last time an Elkandu visited that world, it was Hawthorne, and she accidentally single-handedly destroyed a small army of orcs. Then again, the last time an Elkandu visited the Star Wars universe, they accidentally killed Luke and blew up Coruscant. But that was during this weird period in which whenever people went to different universes, they just kept resetting themselves regularly..."

"Hmm, that wouldn't be so bad, depending on what you were doing at the time," Jasmine hmmed and grinned, then shrugged and stretched out to rest on an elbow and look out over the sea. "Lots of strange things out this way, but the basics aren't really all that different once you pick up some of the primary changes and fit them in. That and remember all the lessons you've picked up on when and how to duck."

"Yeah, and if people wearing funky armor and funny-looking staves followed by weird-looking monstrous demons show up, vacate the universe..."

"Or at least find a nice dark hole to crawl into for a decade or two until the storm passes." Jasmine smirked. "Earth meld's good for that, though I don't know that I'm too fond of the idea of torpor."

The moons sank low below the horizon. Sarril stretched a bit and glanced at the sky and his watch. "Hate to leave this place, but the sun's coming up in an hour..."

Jasmine looked up at the sky pensively, drinking the last fading light of the moons and the glimmer of stars, then turned a quiet smile to Sarril. "So where to next?" she asked. "I'll admit to being somewhat reluctant to leave myself, but... I don't think the sun is going to be held off just because we wish it to."

"I'm sure Streyka wouldn't mind us sleeping in Tinemocun if you like."

"Oh, that would be nice," Jasmine replied, brightening, and pushed herself back up, the idea having considerable appeal on more than one level. She paused to take a look at her cloak, then just shook her head in amusement as not a single grain of sand was to be found marring the luxurious fabric. "Should have known," she muttered, brushed her hands off. "See you at the Nexus!" She Recalled.

Sarril likewise returned to the Nexus and got the destination for Tinemocun, which at least wasn't too far east of where they had been in the first place. Streyka didn't appear to be in the immediate vicinity at the moment, but Sarril knew where the guest quarters were that were used when other vampires come and visit and led them to one of those that wasn't currently occupied.

Jasmine followed along readily enough, glad to take a look around in passing to get more of a look at the castle she'd only glimpsed a balcony of the last time. She didn't know why they fascinated her, it wasn't like Dolen didn't live in one, but as he'd said it was a _different_ and therefore _exotic_ locale... and, she mused, watching Sarril now and again, the scenery was verrrry nice. Mrrrowr. Tinemocun was more than just a mere castle, it was a self-contained city of sorts, with a hundred thousand people staying there at any given time.

The two of them came to a sealed off wing with no light penetrating from outside, and entered an enclosed courtyard. At the center of it was an enchanted fountain apparently gushing blood. Several doors led off into bedrooms from here.

Even more intriguing from a tourist's perspective then, and the sights were avidly paid attention to in all their incarnations. Arriving in the clearly special-constructed area for Kindred visitors, Jasmine grinned a bit with a look at the fountain. "That would certainly be a handy thing to have around, I'd think."

"Indeed," Sarril commented. "There's advantages to having Elkandu magic available, certainly..."

Jasmine chuckled lightly. "Mmm, I'll certainly have to top off before bed, since there's a breakfast appointment scheduled for tomorrow night." She walked near and drew a fingertip teasingly across his chest before passing on.

Sarril grinned broadly and went to lean against the fountain, watching the play of the deep red liquid. Part of it was even a little morbidly shaped like a heart. The rest of the courtyard was paved in solid stone, with some benches and chairs arranged around it, perhaps used for meetings and such.

Jasmine frowned and scratched furiously at one arm, then looked over at Sarril and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I can feel it wanting out again, never have understood _why_ it's such a pain for a day or two after manifesting... Just what I need in the middle of a bunch of people." She smirked.

"What do you mean?" Sarril wondered, looking up over at her curiously.

Jasmine sighed and moved to crouch near the edge of the fountain, then let the change pass over her in a ripple of motion, focusing on the finer point which would allow her to speak. "This," she replied dryly and sighed again. "If the others were any indication, it will remain a nuisance for a day or two, maybe it's trying to force recognition of itself on me, I don't know."

"Well, I'm sure nobody around _here_ will mind," Sarril said with a faint grin.

Jasmine narrowed her eyes at him, tail tip switching fitfully, "Don't make me bite you, I will you know." She softened it by gliding near and caressing his cheek with a flicker of her tongue, and whispered, "But only if asked nicely."

Sarril giggled. "No, really, when you've got flying monkeys waiting tables and centaurs handing out pamphlets..."

"Point," Jasmine replied equably and started working on moving around a little in the form. The biggest problem was speech, the next was balancing properly on two retrograde legs. Wolf had been _relatively_ simple with four to work with, but that wasn't the point! "There are advantages to not being the strangest thing on the block." She coughed softly in amusement.

"Actually, back when Theryn was running the place, her partner was the nali Soliaron. People got used to seeing a large white tiger lounging about, I think," Sarril sniggered softly.

"I doubt they'll even notice me then," Jasmine replied with a bob of her head, then looked thoughtfully over her shoulder to the pattern on her hide, trying to place it. "Snow leopard? Now why..." She shrugged and moved back to the fountain, crouching near and dipping her muzzle to take a drink. May as well take advantage of the situation, after all.

"Don't ask me," Sarril said with a faint smirk. "I have _no_ idea."

Jasmine drank her fill, then eased down to the ground near him, idly grooming her whiskers of a few droplets of blood. "Mm," she murmured. "Never understood why some Gangrel ended up as the animals they did. Though I can see why Falk ended up as a snake." Her expression might not be a smirk, but it was the closest damned thing that a cat could manage and added that special feline smug to it.

"It's random, or based on your personality or something, or what?" Sarril wondered.

"I really don't know," Jasmine replied, ears tilting as she thought about it. "Though what I've seen would seem to suggest it has something to do with personality or inclination. But then I've known all of... hummm... six, including myself? It's not very common because of the gen required. I just barely qualify, yippee!" She finished in a sarcastic mutter.

"Oh, I don't know what's so bad about it..." Sarril said with a playful grin. "Better than something cliched like a bat or something, right?"

"Oh I can turn into a bat, too," Jasmine replied with a wrinkle of her muzzle, "That is _not_ fun! But... uh yeah, turning into a giant walking bat would be a bit creepy, the shapeshifters certainly are."

"I never saw the appeal in the entire 'vampires turning into bats' thing," Sarril said. "As Streyka commented once, if you're going to turn into something that can fly, you're better off turning into something that has scales and claws ... But she might be biased." He chuckled.

"I could agree with that, and something that isn't 'blind as a bat'," Jasmine replied vehemently. "Do you have _any_ idea how disorienting it is trying to use their normal senses? Even the mist form is more comprehensible than that!"

"No, I can't say I do, and I'm not sure I'd care to find out, either," Sarril replied.

"See, you're sensible, what's not to like in that? Their loss," Jasmine growled softly and rubbed her head against his shoulder, purring deliberately.

Sarril reached over and scritched her affectionately, and said, "Sun's coming up. Shall we turn in?"

"Hmmm, you certainly know how to scratch an itch," Jasmine murrrrred, then forced the change away for a while and returned to normal form, grinning. "Yes, I think I'm all for the idea of heading off for bed. After you..." She gestured vaguely toward the waiting guest rooms.

Sarril grinned as well and picked one of the rooms at random and headed in for some rest. Jasmine hummed lightly as she followed him, in decidedly good spirits and at least seeing an end in sight for the past frustration. Certainly couldn't complain of life at the moment, she mused whimsically.

Sarril slept peacefully, and the day passed by uneventfully, people coming and going about their lives in the city-fortress without pausing to disturb the out-of-the-way wing set aside from Streyka's childer. Eventually, the sun set, and Sarril stirred from his rest.

Unlike her Sire, Jasmine rarely spent the day letting her mind roam free of its bounds, not quite so intent as he on experiencing every aspect of the world around her. Today was no exception, and she slept well, only vaguely remembered dreams stirring at the edge of her consciousness as she awakened at last.

"Mmmm," she murmured lazily and gazed out at the new surroundings without moving at first.

Sarril quietly moved to wrap an arm around her. "Good evening, my dear," he says quietly.

Jasmine shifted her attention to him and smiled warmly, edging over to nestle into that arm. "Mmmorning. Sleep well?"

"Like a baby," he said, grinning a bit.

"No, you weren't nearly noisy enough for that," Jasmine countered playfully, and grinned slyly. "Nor would my dreams agree with that assessment. At all. Uh-uh."

Sarril giggled softly. "If you say so," he said lightly.

"Ohhhh yes," Jasmine murmured, then moved suddenly to straddle him at the waist, hands on his shoulders as she looked down with a bright grin. "My dreams had nothing that would be suitable for that age group, believe me."

Sarril grinned broadly and said, "Now that sounds very interesting. Care to enlighten me perhaps?"

Jasmine leaned forward to murmur some very interesting ideas, some of which were doubtless illegal in more prudish domains, in his ear, then nibbled the lobe teasingly.

"Mmm," Sarril mmmed. "Sounds most intriguing." He chuckled softly.

"Only one thing stands between us and a fun-filled night saying to hell with the world outside and anyone who's rude enough to intrude," Jasmine murmured, kissing the corner of his jaw. "Still care for a little breakfast in bed?" She asked, leaving it deliberately open as she bared the curve of her throat in invitation, and went still.

"Mmm. Oh yes. More than anything in the world," he said, reaching up to take what she had to offer.

Jasmine closed her eyes and smiled, her hands curling and nails pressing into his shoulders much as the cat she'd assumed the shape of the night before, and descended into the blissful surrender of the Kiss. There was a sudden twist within as the bond sealed tightly and sent a flicker of emotion across it, and she sighed softly.

Sarril sighed happily and looked to her, smiling brightly. "Yours forever, my love."

"Yes," Jasmine replied softly, gazing down into his eyes, then grinned mischievously as she continued. "And far be it from me to start off an eternity on the wrong foot, such as making false promises..."

Barring supernatural intervention, it was unlikely they'd be seen until the next night... and that intervention had damn well better have a shotgun!


End file.
